Going My Way
by Zodiac-Aries
Summary: The Kyuubi was sealed into Naruto's two younger sisters, causing a wedge to be driven between his family and himself for unknown reasons. Now watch as Naruto makes a name for himself going his own way. Smart!Older!Naruto Alive Parents! Minato Bashing
1. Long Forgotten Son

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, he is own by Masashi Kishimoto.

**Author's Note:** Hello world! I am Zodiac-Aries. This is going to be my first fanfiction ever! Yeah, my brother told me to try it out, since he's been on it for a year already so I decided to see if I can out do him and his crossovers. You could tell who he is just by seeing how we write. So here is my first story! It has been beta-ed by him, although half assedly just to see if I can spot my own mistakes. This was from a challenge I had found by **Eion1231**.

**Author's Note 2:** Okay to be clear on some stuff this is how it will be. Naruto will be smart, have two kekkei genkai (no doujutsu so no Sharingan or Rinnegan) I'll reveal which later, this is a harem story...still waiting on confirmation from the challenge maker if I have to add a certain girl. Also Naruto is 5 years older than canon, making him as old as Itachi, who is his friend. Also I'm going to try, _try,_ to do some Minato bashing. I'm too much of a nice guy to actually do that, but I'll try.

"Hey!"- Talking  
><em>'What?'<em>- Thinking  
><strong>~Time~<strong> - indication of a time skip...although this is obvious.

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><p>"I wonder where kaa-san and tou-san are?" a male voice said aloud. The voice belong to a young boy, around the age of 5, sitting on top of tall building. He had spiky blond hair and dark blue eyes. On his cheeks were three whisker-like birthmarks each. He was wearing a black shirt with an orange spiral in the middle of the chest and burnt orange shorts. On his feet were some worn sandals. He was looking at the full moon in the night sky, with a pout on his lips.<p>

"Naruto-kun," and elderly voice said from behind the now named Naruto. The blond turned around and saw and old man, with grey hair looking at him. He was wearing a male blue kimono top and black pants, on his feet were sandals. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

"I'm waiting for kaa-san and tou-san. They told me they were going to get my baby sisters but that was hours ago!" the little boy whined, causing the old man to chuckle. "Sarutobi-jii, do you know where babies come from?" The caused the old man to stop his chuckling and nearly choke on his pipe.

"Why do you ask?" Sarutobi questioned nervously.

"Because I was wondering if it's in a far away place. I mean, Itachi said that he said he had to wait for his kaa-san and tou-san for a long time too when they brought his little brother home." Sarutobi let out a sigh of relief and coughed.

"Well, I'll tell you when you are older. For now, let's go get you some dinner. What do you say to some ramen?"

"YAY! Ramen!" Naruto ran towards the stairs, with the old man chuckling behind him. When he was about to reach the stairs, the blond boy stopped dead in his tracks. His body went rigid, and from behind the old man could see was trembling.

"Naruto-kun? What's wrong?"

"The air, it feels angry," the boy said. "It feels like..."

"Feels like what?"

"It feels like something bad is about to happen." After the blond whispered that a red light filled the air, followed by an primal roar. That was the night the Kyuubi no Kitsune was released onto Konoha.

**~2 Years Later~**

Naruto Uzumaki, formerly Naruto Namikaze, was sitting inside a class room. His chin was in the palm of his right hand as he rested his elbow on the table in front of him. He was wearing a black jacket over a dark orange shirt, and black pants. He had matching orange gloves on his hands, with blue ninja sandals on his feet. On his forehead was a Konoha forehead protector. On his hip, attached to his belt, was a pouch that was full of various ninja tools like shuriken, steel wire and several explosive notes. His eyes lazily watched the room full of students. _'I wonder how many of here will actually reach the level of the ninja I see everyday?_' Naruto thought to himself. He was broken out of his thoughts when the seat next to him was dragged back and someone sat next to him. Looking towards the newcomer Naruto took in his appearance. Next to him sat a boy with black hair done with a small ponytail in the back. He wore a black shirt with a high collar and grey pants. He too had a pouch attached to his hip, and a forehead protector. He crossed his fingers as he sat down and watched the others. The two sat quietly for a few moments, before Naruto spoke. "Hey Itachi."

"Yes Naruto-san?" Itachi replied. This was Itachi Uchiha, the genius of the Uchiha clan, and current heir to the family.

"Do you think it was right of us to skip ahead of all our other classmates? I mean, we are only seven years old after all, and all these other people are like 11 or 12 already."

"I think we made the right choice. Do you want to stay behind with them for another five years?" Naruto rolled his eyes but nodded.

"Yeah, I just hope the team we are put in will like us."

"As long as you don't mouth off at them, then we will be alright," Itachi said with a smirk.

"Haha, very funny," Naruto replied at the jibe. "Then I hope your group won't hate you for bringing along your fangirls." Naruto smirked as he saw his friend shiver.

"Do not bring them up again."

"Aw, is Itachi still scarred from what happened last time?"

"You left me to them, they tried to pull out my hair. They also touched me in places I never knew I had." This time Naruto cringed. He really didn't mean to leave Itachi to the annoying masses of females that tend to follow them, but when it comes to choosing your own life or that of your friends, against fangirls its better to give them what they want.

"Ouch. Yeah, sorry about that." Itachi glared at him from the corner of his eye before looking forward again as their teacher walked in.

"Class, today we are here to assign you to your squads. You will be with these people in the group for a long time. So do come to trust them. No matter what happens from here on, I will always be proud to be your teacher. I also would like to note that, even though two of the students here," the teacher paused in her speech and looked at Naruto and Itachi who were sitting in the back, "are younger than all of you, if they are in your team, treat them as you would your other teammates. Now let us begin. Team 1 Iruka Umino..." After that Naruto drowned out the rest of the speech seeing as his older friend, Iruka, wouldn't be in the same squad as him. It would be a few minutes later that his attention came back to his sensei. "Squad Nine is Itachi Uchiha, Yugao Uzuki and Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei is Mikoto Uchiha." This made Naruto look over to his friend.

"Did you know about this?" Naruto asked.

"I didn't. Kaa-san said nothing to me about her being our squad leader, let alone both of us in the same team."

"Do you know who the third person in our group is?"

"Its the one staring at us right now." Itachi pointed. Near the front of the class was a girl with long purple hair and. She had one a purple shirt and black bicycle shorts. Her forehead protector was wrapped around her left bicep. Naruto saw that she was looking at them and waved. The girl seemed surprised for a moment, then cautiously waved back.

"Hopefully she won't mind us being her teammates."

"Yes, now let us wait."

After calling all the names, the sensei stopped talking and had the students get into their group to speak to each other. Since Naruto and Itachi were already sitting by each other they didn't have to stand up, but they did wait for Yugao to sit next to them. She walked up the aisle until she was in front of them. "So you two are my teammates?"

"Yup," Naruto said with an energetic smile. He put his hand out for her to shake, "Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet you senpai. Let's work hard, 'ttebayo." Naruto stopped talking for a minute then slammed his head down before she could shake it. He let out a groan from his position.

"Are you okay Naruto-san?" Yugao asked nervously. _'I hope he isn't crazy.' _ Next to her Itachi was chuckling.

"I did it again didn't I?"

"Yes you did Naruto," Itachi replied, still chuckling.

"Um...what are you two talking about?" Yugao asked, slightly freaked out.

"You see, Yugao-san, Naruto here has an odd verbal tick. He tends to say 'ttebayo, when he gets excited," Itachi explained. "Back then when we were still five years old, he kept saying it. After a certain incident he vowed to never say that phrase if he could help it."

"A certain incident?"

"I helped Itachi out during one of his fangirl episodes," Naruto grumbled. He sat up straighter in his chair and frowned. "I distracted some of the girls last year, and accidentally shouted out that I'd help him out. I said 'ttebayo at the end of the whole awesome speech I gave. Then it happened."

"What?"

"He accidentally got his own fangirls. They thought he was cute, charming and loved his verbal tick," Itachi chuckled again, a small smile on his face. "It lessened my group about a third or so."

"Don't remind me. They swarmed me last week when we got our forehead protectors. You had Mikoto-sama to help you, but I had to run into the trees!" the blond cried, as anime tears fell from his face. Even now Yugao was laughing along side Itachi.

"Squad 9," a feminine voice. The trio stopped their antics, and looked over to the front of the room. Standing there was their leader, Mikoto Uchiha, in standard jounin gear: black ninja pants, ninja sweater/shirt, Jounin flak jacket and a forehead protector. He hair was smilar to that of Itachi's, that of course is due to her being his mother. "Would you come with me please." Naruto nodded and stood up, followed by Itachi and Yugao.

"Hey Naruto!" a voice said. Naruto stopped as they walked and looked at the source of the voice. A teen with a scar running across his nose and was more slightly tanned was looking at him.

"What do you want Iruka?" Naruto smirked back.

"Train hard! When the Chunin exams come, let's go together," Iruka said with a smirk.

"You do know that if that does happen, we'll be enemies right."

"Urk..." Iruka stopped talking and blushed in embarrassment.

"Well, I'm off Iruka. I'll see you around, and if we do meet at the Chunin exams again. I'll see you on the battle field." Iruka smiled at him.

"That's Iruka-senpai to you brat!" Naruto waved it off and walked out with his team.

**~Minutes later~**

The group found themselves sitting in an empty training field. "Okay I'd like us to introduce ourselves to one another," Mikoto said with a smile.

"But you already know us Mikoto-sama," Naruto whined.

"It's supposed to be so that Uzuki-senpai could learn more about us Naruto," Itachi said. Naruto looked confused for a moment, and closed his eyes to think. From her position, it looked like Naruto was some sort of fox. After a moment, Naruto nodded.

"Okay I get it. Sorry Mikoto-sama. Why don't you go first?"

"Alright then. My name is Mikoto Uchiha, and I am Jounin. I was also part of the Konoha Police Force until I decided to train kids like you. I like my family, and I really don't have anything I do not like."

"Wait," Naruto started to speak after she finished. "Who's taking care of Sasuke while you're with us? I mean he's only two ain't he?"

"Yes, I know he is only two Naruto-kun; however, since we will be more likely doing D-rank missions for a few weeks, I can take him with us." Naruto face faulted at her sweet and innocent smile at the mention of D-rank missions. Yugao wanted to laugh and Itachi just shook his head in exasperation. He forgot how much of an idiot Naruto could be from time to time. "Why don't you go next Uzuki-san."

"Hai, Uchiha-sensei," Yugao replied respectfully.

"Oh please don't call me that. Call me Mikoto."

"But..." Yugao knew she would lose this argument so she nodded her head. " Hai Mikoto-sensei. I am Yugao Uzuki. I don't dislike a lot of things, but I like looking at the moon...and a certain person." She said with a blush. "I dream to be part of the ANBU one day and help out our village be at its very best."

"That is good to hear. Itachi-kun why don't you go next."

"My name is Itachi Uchiha, of the Uchiha clan. I like to visit traditional cafes, and I like to eat cabbages or onigiri with seaweed in it. I dislike steak. My favorite word is peace. My dream is to one day see my little brother surpassing me."

"Aw...ain't that sweet?" Naruto gushed. Itachi hit him on the back of the head before looking back at his mother.

"Naruto-kun please don't interrupt others when they talk," Mikoto scold, although only lightly.

"Hai Mikoto-sama."

"Well, you're up next Naruto-kun." The blond nodded and stood up.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like training, reading some books Sarutobi-jii gave me, watering plants and my friends! My favorite foods are ramen and red bean soup, although I hate fresh vegetables. I dislike those who abandon other people! My dream is," Naruto stopped talking before smiling.

"What is your dream Naruto-san?" Yugao asked. He looked towards Hokage Monument, before pointing at their faces.

"I one day plan to surpass all the previous Hokages, 'ttebayo!" After a second Naruto groaned, while Itachi chuckled in the background. "Damn! That's the second time today!"

"Aw...but it's cute Naruto-kun," Mikoto giggled along with Yugao.

"Shinobi's aren't supposed to be cute. We're supposed to be precise, deadly and cool," Naruto grumbled.

"That is true. Well, let us meet tomorrow. We will have team exercises starting at eight in the morning. Be on time, after that, we will start doing some D-rank missions. Itachi, let us go home. Sasuke needs to be fed soon, and I don't trust that Shisui will feed him the right amount."

"Wait, you mean you aren't going to do the second test on us?" Naruto asked surprised.

"What second test?" Yugao asked. "There is a second test Mikoto-sensei?"

"Well, I was supposed to give you one, but I know you three will work well. If not, Naruto and Itachi can easily put you into their formations," Mikoto said with a smiled. Turning to her son, the black haired woman started to walk away. "Itachi let's go. Naruto-kun can explain to Yugao what I mean."

"Hai kaa-san," her son agreed. Turning to his teammates he bowed to them before leaving. "It was nice to meet you Uzuki-san. Let us work well together." That left the other 7 year old boy with the 12 year old.

"What do they mean by your formations?" Yugao asked again. Naruto turned to her and smiled.

"Well, Itachi and I, we're really good friends. Ever since we were kids. Hell, I can't think of a time when I hadn't hung out with him. I was even there when he first got his sharingan: he almost got killed by a bear due to my indecision and it accidentally opened. But that's not what you want to hear right?" The purple haired girl nodded. "You see due to me and Itachi always hanging out, we also sparred a lot. Not only that we also learned to fight along side each other. We learned how to compliment each other in our fighting styles."

"What do you mean?" Yugao was now curious. She wanted to know more about her teammates in order to get along with them better. The two of them were walking back into the more residential part of the village as they spoke.

"You see, he and I compliment each other. I'm more about strength, stamina and taijutsu, more of hand to hand kind of guy. While Itachi is much better at doing hand seals, genjutsu and speed. It doesn't mean we are horrible at it. I mean I can do simple genjutsus and break free from them, I can't do complicated ones like Itachi. While I can last longer in fights compared to him," the blond explained.

"I see, that still doesn't explain the whole formation thing."

"It's basically we do something to compliment the other person's attack. If Itachi uses a genjutsu, I have to take it up close and personal. If I use a wind type attack, he uses a fire type. Simple no?"

"Ah. Where do two seven year olds get time to do this?" The blond shrugged at the purple haired girl's question.

"If you read as much as I do and get trained as much as Itachi does, we have a lot of free time. That is why he and I are in your group. We advanced faster than anyone else in our class. Although it would be nice to have some of them with us."

Yugao was about to speak again, except eruption of noise came from down the street. Looking down the road, she saw a bunch of people surrounding a couple, with babies in their arms. One was a blond man with spiky hair and blue eyes, just like Naruto's. He wore the same thing as to what Mikoto wore, except he had a white cloak over it with orange spike liking the bottom. He two wore a forehead protector on his forehead. Standing next to him was a woman with long red hair and grey eyes. She had on a white short sleeve kimono top, with a black skirt. Black stocking were on her legs, and she too had a forehead protector, just like every other ninja. In their arms were babies, both of which were girls. One was blond and blue eyed, just like the father while the other had red hair and grey eyes like their mother. "Oh my, the Hokage's family!" Yugao gasped. "I didn't know they walked down this way."

"Of course they do," Naruto said with a grumble, although Yugao didn't seem to notice it. "They live down the street. Largest house at the end."

"Really? How did you know that?"

"Passed it a couple of times. I mean who wouldn't know the home of Minato and Kushina Namikaze. As well as the heroes of the village, Yuri and Tsubaki," the blond said sarcastically. This time Yugao did notice the tone.

"Is something wrong Uzumaki-san? It seems like you have something against the Hokage."

"I have nothing against him. Really, I don't." Looking past them, Naruto sighed before putting his hands into his pockets. "I'll see you tomorrow Yugao-senpai. I'll be heading home." Naruto walked towards the group with Yugao watching him.

As Naruto walked he neared the group he could see them laughing with the villagers and it made him feel sick. Trying to walk by the side, Naruto attempted not to be seen but failed.

"Uzumaki-san," a male voice called out to him. Naruto beat down the growl in his throat as he turned towards the people looking at him. Putting on a strained smile he looked at the family in front of him. The villagers were looking between the two and noticed that both the Hokage and Naruto looked similar to each other.

"Good afternoon Hokage-sama, Namikaze-sama," he greeted the family. "How are you and you're family today?"

"We are doing well, thank you for asking Uzumaki-kun," Kushina replied back with a smile. Again, Naruto had to force down the growl threatening to come out of his mouth. "How are you today?" Naruto smirked, but had to resist the urge of rolling his eyes.

"I just became a ninja of Konoha," he answered tapping the thing on his forehead. "As of today, I will be working under you Hokage-sama. Please treat me well."

"I will," Minato replied this time. "You should run along now, your parents must be waiting for you at home." Naruto was happy that at least one of his hands were in his pockets, so no one could see him making a fist at the comment.

"Yeah. They just might be. Good bye Hokage-sama, Namikaze-sama." After that, Naruto turned on his heel and went down the road in the opposite direction of the Namikaze family and house hold. After walking a few blocks away, Naruto let out a frustrated growl and slammed his fist into the wall. "That freakin' prick!" He then winced in pain before looking at his hand. "Tch, Shizune-nee won't be happy about this." Nursing his hand, he continued to walk down the street, greeting other people as he did. He kept walking until Naruto reached a one story house, that was rather plain. A white, light grey paint had fitted the building. It had a large yard in the front, as well as no neighbor on either side.

Going down the beaten path, the blond ninja fished out his key and opened the front door. Again nothing out of the ordinary was inside the living. There was a couch, a bookshelf, a few potted plants and a coffee table. He walked by a plain kitchen, with all the appliances that were just necessary to cook, and out to the back door. That was were most of the ordinary things stopped. The backyard was built like a training field. There were targets off in the distances, a few test dummies for fighting, a small pond to practice walking on water or doing water jutsus. Basically, a ninja's dream backyard. There was also a forest that seemed to extend from where the backyard stopped. Taking a seat on a bench nearby the door, Naruto sat down and sighed. He just sat there for awhile, looking at the horizon, not knowing how much time had passed.

"What's wrong with you brat?" a mature woman's voice asked. Naruto sighed for like the hundredth time that day.

"What's up baa-chan?" he asked the woman who took a seat next to him. He received a small punch to his head when after a few seconds. "OW!" The seven year old he looked at the woman. She was wearing a grey shirt that showed a fair amount of her very large breasts. Over it there was a green coat trimmed with black, and if one were to look at the back they would see the kanji for the gamble. She wore black ninja pants and high heals. Her dark blonde hair was down into twin tails, and she had a diamond shaped mark on her forehead. "What was that for?"

"I told you to stop calling me that! At least call me Tsunade," the one now called Tsunade said. "I am the heiress to the Senju clan after all. Now what is wrong with you?"

"What do you mean?" the younger blond asked feigning ignorance, just like the little kid he is.

"You're staring out into space again when i got here and your hand is bleeding. Don't kid with me, what happened?" It was all quiet for a moment before Naruto spoke again.

"I saw them again." Naruto growled, yet he could feel some pinpricks of tears in his eyes. "They looked like the perfect little family. One that I should be part of." And after that, Naruto started crying. Tsunade moved closer to him and put him in a hug.

"There there, Naruto it's okay," Tsunade cooed.

"It's not!" Naruto wailed. "I don't get it! I don't see why tou-san kicked me out! I don't get why kaa-san doesn't know me anymore! I just don't get it! It all started when those girls were born!" The two stayed like that for a few minutes, Naruto balling his eyes out and Tsunade trying to comfort him. When he finally calmed down, Naruto stepped moved away from her and sighed. "Thanks ba-" he stopped when he heard her growl, "I mean Tsunade-chan. I really needed that."

"You always get like this when they talk to you. I keep telling you to avoid them."

"I can't do that now since I'm a ninja Tsunade-chan." Naruto sighed again and Tsunade got a tick mark on her head. She gave him a light slap on the back of his head, but with her strength caused him to stumble off the chair.

"You sigh to much for a seven year old. You should go out there and have fun. You'll be stuck doing chores, I mean, D-rank missions for some time so I suggest that you have as much fun as you can. Don't let your former family get in the way of you life."

"Yeah I guess you're right."

"You know I'm right. Now let me see that wound on your hand before Shizune comes back. You know how she fusses over you when you get hurt." Naruto showed her his hand while she did a healing jutsu on it.

"She should get a boyfriend already. I swear she's seventeen and single. Must be bad for her."

"Why do you think that?"

"Ero-sensei told me to think like that."

"I see. I'll have to have a talk to with him when he comes to visit tonight."

"Ero-sensei is coming!" the blond asked excitedly. "Maybe he'll teach me a new jutsu today!"

"Don't get to excited brat. After the beating I'll give him for peeking in on the onsens again, he might not be able to teach you anything."

"Aw...Baa-chan! Don't hurt him too bad!" Another tick mark appeared on her forehead.

"Don't call me that you brat!"

**~Hours Later~**

It was close to midnight and Naruto was asleep in his bed. This was of course after his surrogate sister, Shizune, berate him for hurting himself. Then a dinner which was interrupted by Jiraiya, the legendary toad sage, or as Naruto liked to call him Ero-sensei. After a beating, the old man tried to teach him a jutsu which Naruto couldn't get just yet but promised he'll work on it.

"He cried again you know," Tsunade said to Jiraiya as the two peaked into his room. The man behind her sighed.

"I wish I didn't bring up the prophecy to Minato," Jiraiya muttered. "Maybe if I didn't do that, Naruto would still be with them." Turning over to them who Tsunade would consider her best friend now, she saw the regret in his eyes. "i just thought that he should know about it since it might concern his kids."

"I agree with you there but I didn't think Minato would go as far as disowning Naruto there."

"I also wonder what happened to Kushina, it seems like something happened to her on that day too. As if she doesn't even know she has a son," the toad sage said. "I think something happened that night. Something that forced both Kushina and Minato to act differently towards Naruto."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade asked.

"There is no way Kushina would do something like abandon Naruto. She was so excited when she gave birth to him and was happy raising him those first five years. Something, or someone, must have changed the way they think."

"You mean you think someone attacked them that night?" Tsunade gasped.

"Yes. I think it is one of Danzo's men, probably a Yamanaka but I can't be too sure."

"When did you come up with a time to think of this?"

"When I wasn't looking for Orochimaru for the past two years, I've been trying to think of a reason as to why they would abandon him. That is the best I could come up with." The two stayed silent for a while before Jiraiya cleared his throat. "I think I'll be going now. Visit Minato and have a word with him. Maybe he can shed some light on this situation."

"Alright, go do that."

"Do I get a parting kiss?" Jiraiya made a kissing face, but received a punch instead.

"Pervert, are you still trying to get with me?"

"Maybe..." Jiraiya laughed. "Also I plan to visit the old man, after visiting Minato. How is he doing by the way?"

"I don't know, the fact that he took a blow from the Kyuubi after protecting Naruto from an attack surprised me. I'm happy he's still alive but it will take some time for him to be up to snuff. Heck, he might be more limber than before."

"That's great to hear. Well see you later, Tsunade-hime." Walking down the hall, Jiraiya opened a window and jumped out into the night sky. As he did though there were some thoughts in his mind. Thoughts about Naruto and what his future may hold for him.

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><p><strong>Author's End Note:<strong> So tell me what you guys think. Was it good? Was it bad? Were any of the characters OOC? Leave a review to see if I can fix any problems you guys may have found. The next chapter will show a mission on which Itachi, Naruto and Yugao take place.


	2. Pieces

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto, it is owned by some Japanese guy.

**Author's Note: **I'd like to thank all those who had added, favorite and commented on my work. So here is the next piece of work, which was again beta-ed by my brother, who is half assing his work again. Apparently he needs to be motivated and looking for some inspiration to do his own stories again. Please enjoy.

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><p>"How do they keep doing it?" a chunin at the mission desk asked. It was only two weeks into the team's formation, but most people would have not expected such...enthusiasm from team nine. Over the course of two weeks Naruto and his group done exactly 53 D-rank missions, which was surprising seeing as not a lot of people expected the group with two seven year olds to get that much work done. They thought they would complain the entire time. Most of them didn't expect them to go above and beyond the other current groups of rookie genin. "How come they don't take forever to catch that damned cat like all the groups?" he whispered to the person next to him.<p>

Why they were whispering amongst themselves was the fact that the trio was now holding a light brown furred cat with a red ribbon on its tail. Now the reason the entire two chunin were whispering amongst themselves was the fact that this cat was Tora, the daimyo's wife's cat, was near uncatchable. It always puts up a fight when people try to catch it, usually taking hours to do for a simple D-rank mission; however, this time it is different. This time the Naruto, Itachi and Yugao's team only took twenty minutes, and without any indication of a struggle. "Who's a nice little cat? You are, you are," Naruto cooed at the cat in his arms. The cat was happily responding back lightly nuzzling into the blonds arm.

"Naruto, would you please stop doing that," Itachi sighed next to the blond. "It's not like it is a summon animal that can understand human speech."

"I'll do what I like," Naruto said with a small glare. He then turned to the cat and said, "Right Tora-chan?" the cat mewled affectionately. Itachi turned to the two women in his group.

"Do something about this please?"

"Aw but he gets so cute when he's with that cat," Mikoto replied. She giggled when the blond gently nuzzled the cat back as it did it with him. "And even though I hate that cat and its entire family for making my genin days a living hell, at least Naruto seems to enjoy it."

"I'll never get why that cat seems to be attracted to Uzumaki-san," Yugao sighed. "It won't even attack him. It hissed at us though." When they got to the desk Naruto presented the cat to a fat lady in a purple dress.

"Oh you brought back my baby!" the daimyo's wife shouted. She then proceeded to place the cat between her breasts and give it a suffocating hug. The cat struggled in her grasp. From the other side of the table watched horrified at what was happening, Mikoto was laughing internally, while Itachi and Yugao were just relieved they didn't have to chase that cat again.

"Ms. I don't think you should..." Naruto started to talk, to tell the woman to not do that to the cat for that was the reason it kept running away. He was refrained from talking, when the daimyo's wife put him into a chest crushing hug as well.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Naruto's arms were flailing as he was being suffocated by the woman.

"Ma'am if you please release our boy, it seems like he's losing his breath," an elderly voice said from the table. The woman did just that.

"Oh my I'm so sorry!" the daimyo's wife apologized. "Well, I'll be going now Hokage-dono. Thank you for the help." The old voice chuckled again.

"I'm the former Hokage, Madam. Right now I'm just Sarutobi Hiruzen, mission administrator," Sarutobi said from the desk. The woman smiled and left the room. People noticed that the cat gave Naruto a pleading look as she left.

When she was out of ear shot Naruto spoke, "She's going to kill that cat if she keeps doing that."

"It is not up to us what she does with her pets Naruto-kun," Sarutobi told the blond.

"I know Sarutobi-jii, I know." He was then whacked on the back of the head by Itachi. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Please forgive Naruto of his rudeness Hokage-sama. He tends to forget who he is in front of," Itachi apologized. The former Hokage just smiled.

"It is fine Itachi-kun. Naruto and I have been friends for a long time, so he tends to call me that and I allow it," Sarutobi replied. He then turned to Mikoto, "Another successful mission I see."

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"That would make it your 53 completed D-rank mission in over two weeks. I must say I'm impressed. The only ones who could compete with your group is Iruka Umino, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki's group, but even then they only have about half as much as you done." Looking at the three kids in front of him, the former Hokage lifted up a brow. "Are you guys getting in the necessary training?"

"We've got teamwork down, so no need to worry about us Sarutobi-jii!" Naruto boasted.

"It will take sometime to fully incorporate Uzuki-san into our methods, but we will manage," Itachi replied.

"These two have been training hard, by themselves and with me," Yugao admitted. "I was surprised to see that they were so skilled already. Even though I'm older, I think I'm the weakest in our group." She then felt two hands on her shoulders. She looked at behind her and saw her two teammates smiling at her, although she had to look a bit down since the two were still rather short.

"Don't think like that Yugao-senpai," Naruto started.

"Like we said at the start of our team formation, we'll help you get stronger," Itachi finished.

"Guys..." Yugao whispered.

"Besides, you're not a training junkie like my son or Naruto-kun," Mikoto said from the background, with Yugao smiling at her.

"Okaa-san/Mikoto-sama!" Itachi (uncharacteristically) and Naruto whined at the little insult. Sarutobi gave a smile at the group, seeing as they got along well. Taking a drag from his pipe, he let out a deep breath.

"It is safe to assume that your team is above doing D-rank missions now, seeing as you'll only speed through them, I think it is time that you have your first C-rank mission."

"Really?" Naruto asked with a smile. "Do we get to go beat up some bandits? Save people? Play the hero?"

"Calm down Naruto-kun. It is nothing like that. You are going off to the Tea Country and take care of a girl for a week."

"Ooh, is she a princess?"

"No. She's just a girl." Naruto deflated by at that.

"We'll take it Hokage-sama. When do we leave?" Mikoto asked. The old man looked at the clock on the wall before turning back to her.

"If you want you can leave within the next two hours. It will take you about a day on foot to reach the building. It is on the border of Fire and Tea country," Sarutobi informed them. They all nodded their heads in understanding. "Good you are dismissed to get you're supplies ready." They all bowed and were about to leave, until the former hokage spoke again. "Naruto-kun, I'd like a word with you."

"Oh sure jiji," the blond kid replied. He turned to the rest of his team and nodded at them. "I'll meet with you guys later at the gate." They all nodded their and left the room. "So what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Let's do this on a walk Naruto-kun. It has been awhile since I had a good stroll with you." The old man stood up and they began to walk out of the building. The two strolled around the more quieter parts of the village, near a park. "So Naruto-kun how have you been?"

"I've been well Sarutobi-jii," Naruto answered. "I mean I've been really busy with all these things happening, but it's been pretty fun with Itachi and them. Heck, it has been great with them."

"That's good Naruto-kun. I'm glad you like your team. I was the one who suggested it to you father to put you in that team."

"I have no father, he is just the Hokage-sama to me," the boy frowned. The old man frowned but nodded his head.

"I forgot you don't consider him your father anymore. After he disowned you, it hasn't been the same hasn't it."

"Yeah. It hurts just to see them you know? I mean I should be part of that picture too, smiling with them and having fun. Yet, I don't know what happened that day. I wish I knew what happened."

"I do too Naruto-kun, I do too. I'm also wondering what happened to your mother, since it seems like she doesn't know who you are. That along with the law that your father had instated after you being disowned makes it impossible for anyone to tell her how you are related to her. I do not see why he made your disowning and your origins a SS-class secret. He won't let anyone say a thing about it unless they want to be executed. Even I have to abide by it." The two sat down on a bench in the park and just looked around.

"That makes no sense, and I don't like it because it makes no sense."

"I agree." He then turned towards the seven year old, who seemed to be older than he should be with the stress being put on him by own father. "You know a few days ago, Kushina came in and asked about you."

"Really?" Naruto asked perking up.

"Yes, she was asking about who you are, wondering why you have her old last name. With your father being in teh room, I couldn't say anything. So I had to lie and said you were a long lost relative, a survivor of the Whirlpool Country, who had been found after the war."

"Oh." The blond deflated.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay jiji, I know you mean well and have to follow the laws as well. I just wish..." Naruto sighed. "I just wished...there weren't any laws like that. Just so I can be with mom and dad again." He then felt a hand on his head and saw the Hokage smiling at him.

"Your way of thinking is far too old for one such as young as yourself," Sarutobi smiled. "Go and get ready for the mission Naruto-kun. Try and be friends with the girl you are going to take care of. Maybe you'll make a new friend." Naruto smiled ruefully and swatted away the old man's hand.

"You don't have to tell me that Sarutobi-jii. I like making new friends." He got off the bench and began to run out of the park. "See ya later Sarutobi-jii!"

"Goodbye Naruto-kun!" the former Hokage smiled as he watched his surrogate grandson run out of the park. His smile disappeared as he thought of his successor's doing. _'Minato-kun, just what are you thinking, doing this to your own son? I'll have to ask Jiraiya-kun if he knows anything about it._' He then turned back and started his walk back towards the Hokage's building to give out more work.

Naruto, on the other hand, was running back home so he can pack up. As he ran, he stopped for he saw a familiar face. "Hana-chan!" he shouted out, getting the attention of another kid. In front of him a girl around his age with brown hair in a ponytail was looking at him. She had on a grey shirt and black pants, with sandals. On her cheeks were two red tattoos in the shape of fangs. Standing next to her was a feral looking woman, with the exact same tattoos on her cheeks, and was wearing a jounin uniform. Around them was one big dog with an eye patch over its right eye and three puppies. "Good morning Hana-chan, Tsume-sama."

"Ah Naruto-kun, how are you?" Hana Inuzuka asked as he approached her.

"I'm doing great. When did you get these puppies Hana-chan?"

"She got them today," Tsume Inuzuka replied. "I decided that she would need a lot more time with her dogs since she has three. So instead of giving them to her at eleven or twelve as I usually do, I gave them to her at seven."

"Ah that's so cool!" Naruto replied with a smile.

"So what are you up to now Naruto-kun?" Hana wondered. "Don't you have a mission today since you are a genin now, Mr. I'm-So-Smart-And-Talented-That-I-Graduated-Five-Year's-Earlier?"

"Hey! I'm not the only one who graduated earlier, Itachi did too remember?"

"I know, but you're a closer friend to me than he is. So do you have a mission today?"

"I do. Sarutobi-jii thought it would be nice of us to start doing C-rank missions since we seem to breeze through the D-rank ones rather easily," Naruto explained.

"Wow, on a C-rank mission already. I remember it took my group about a month of being a genin to get our first C-rank missions. You guys are rather fast," Tsume praised. Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"You're so lucky Naruto-kun. You already get to leave the village. I can't even do that yet," Hana pouted.

"Don't worry Hana-chan. You'll be doing these things too eventually. So do your best in the Academy and maybe you'll catch up to me and Itachi," Naruto stated.

"Yeah right, you guys are too good. Even if you don't say it, you guys were always the best in the academy."

"Hehehe, true. We'll see. Well I have to go, see you Hana-chan! Tsume-sama!" Naruto bowed two both of them and ran towards his home. The two Inuzuka women stared at him as he ran away.

"Heh, still as energetic as ever. Reminds me of his mother," Tsume smirked.

"His mother? You mean Ku-" Hana was interrupted when her mother placed a hand on her mouth.

"We can't say that out loud remember."

"Why?"

"The Hokage said not to."

"I don't like what is happening."

"Me neither, but we can't do anything about it."

**~A Day later~**

After getting together, team nine had set out for their mission. There was no trouble on the road they were on and everything seemed to go fine. They had camped out that night, each person taking watch. Itachi went first, then Naruto, then Yugao and Mikoto. Itachi and Naruto went first since they would tire more easily since they were younger, not accustomed to staying up late. Mikoto also asked one of the younger Uchiha members to look after Sasuke for her, knowing that her husband would forget.

Then after a day of walking, and Naruto constantly asking if they were there yet, the squad finally made it out to a small house in a forest, just a couple of kilometers away from a small town.

"Well group, here we are," Mikoto stated. "This is the house of of one Sandayu Asama. We are her to babysit, I mean, protect the girl he is taking care of."

"Couldn't he get some baby sitter from somewhere else?" Naruto asked with a frown on his face.

"Well, he would have if he wasn't going to be gone for a month."

"Kami, this is just like another D-rank mission except outside of the village."

"Now, now Naruto-kun we've accepted this mission and as ninja of Konoha we are going to do our work. Got it?" Mikoto asked.

"Hai Mikoto-sama. I don't have to like it though."

"You didn't like the walk over here, I guess it's to be expected you won't like the person either," Itachi said with a roll of his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"I wonder what this girl would be like," Yugao said aloud.

"I just wonder if I will have time to nap," Naruto mumbled. "Haven't had one of those in awhile."

"Oh great, you sound like a Nara," Itachi mumbled.

"There is nothing wrong with the Naras, you know."

"Of course there isn't anything wrong with them. Just their worth ethic is a bit under par; however, they are geniuses."

"Boys please stop arguing," Mikoto sighed. "We get enough of this at the village. I don't want to make a bad impression on the clients. How about this: Itachi if you don't argue with Naruto during the time we are here I'll take you to that cafe near the border of Wind Country that you were always asking to go to. Naruto I'll buy you a week's worth of ramen." At that both boys stopped arguing.

"How do you do it Mikoto-sensei?" Yugao asked.

"I love both boys very much, I even treat Naruto as if he was my own son. That is why I know how to handle them easily." She then turned to the two boys who seemed mesmerized at her offer. "Let's go and greet our client." The boy s nodded and the group walked over to the cabin. Mikoto knocked on the door and waited for it to open. When it did an man who looked to be in his mid-forties was standing there. He had brown, greying hair and wore a business suit. He had on a small pair of glasses. He smiled at them. "Hello are you Sandayu Asama-san?" Mikoto asked politely.

"Ah yes I am, you must be the ninja from Konoha sent right?" Sandayu asked.

"Yes. I am Mikoto Uchiha, this is my squad consisting of Itachi, my son; Naruto Uzumaki, the blonde one; and Yugao Uzuki, the only girl in our team. We will be taking care of your charge for the next few days."

"Thank you for coming. Please, come in. I'll call her down." The group entered and saw that the place was furnished modestly, with a few chairs a couch and a table. The kitchen was attached to the living room and had just the bare necessities in it. To Naruto, it sort of reminded him of the opening in his and Tsunade's house. "Yukie! Come down here and meet the people who will stay with you while I'm doing business." Naruto looked up the stairs that lead to a second story and saw a girl their age coming down the stairs. She had on a pink kimono wrapped with a red obi. Her hair was a dark shade of blue, almost black. She was smiling at them.

"Hello, I am Yukie Fujikaze," she greeted. Naruto looked at her and noticed something off about her. "Please treat me well."

"We will. Let me introduce you to my team. This is my son Itachi he should be the same age as you," she pointed to her son. Itachi gave her a nod to which Yukie gave a bow. "The girl standing next to him is Yugao Uzuki. She is older than you by five years."

"Nice to meet you Fujikaze-san," Yugao bowed.

"Nice to meet you too Uzuki-san," Yukie returned the greeting.

"And the last one is Naruto Uzumaki," Mikoto introduced the blond.

"It's nice to meet you as well Uzumaki-san," Yukie bowed again. Naruto kept staring at her intensely. "Um...is there something on my face?"

"There's something wrong with it," Naruto said bluntly.

"E-Excuse me?"

"There's something I don't like about your face."

"Naruto!" the rest of his group shouted at him simultaneously. "Don't be rude!" He then looked at them.

"What? I'm just telling the truth."

"What a way to make a first impression," Itachi mumbled. Next to him Yugao nodded. Mikoto shook her head.

"I'm sorry for his mouth, he usually isn't like this at all. Most of the time he only mouths off at Itachi there," she apologized to Yukie and Sandayu. "Naruto you apologize too."

"Why?" Naruto asked surprised. "I'm just telling them what I think."

"It's fine," Yukie said with a smile. When she saw Naruto looking at her again, she frowned. "Do you really not like my face?"

"Yeah, I honestly don't like your face. There's something wrong with it." He then turned to Sandayu. "Sandayu-san, if you would show us were our rooms are, I'd like to put my stuff there." Then the blond looked at his leader. "After that I'll be nearby in the forest training."

"Ah come right this way," Sandayu mentioned for Naruto to follow him up the stairs. The blond followed him leaving his group surprised at his actions, and a confused girl.

"Is he really rarely like this?" Yukie asked.

"He's rarely hostile or insulting to our other clients. This is the first time he out right doesn't like someone," Itachi explained. "I wonder what makes you so special." When Yukie saw Itachi looking at her, she blushed and looked away. Itachi rolled his eyes, hoping to not get a fangirl from this girl.

"I do wonder too why Uzumaki-san is doesn't like you," Yugao admitted. "The only time I've even seen him irritated was when we passed by the Hokage's family." Both Itachi and Mikoto stiffened at that.

"Hokuge?" Yukie asked.

"Not hokuge, Hokage. He is the leader of our village, and the one of the strongest people in our nation," the purple haired girl explained. "But yeah, he seemed irritated when he saw them." She turned to the two other people from Konoha still in the room. "Do you know the reason why he would be like that?"

"You should actually know the reason, unless you weren't there during the announcement," Mikoto replied. Her voice had an angry tone in it.

"What announcement?"

"Weren't you there all two years ago? After the birth of both Tsubaki and Yuri?"

"Who's Tsubaki and Yuri?" Yukie asked. The trio then remembered the girl was there.

"They are the daughters of the Hokage," Yugao answered. Looking at her teacher, she saw that her face seemed distnat and sad at the same time. "What announcement are you talking about Mikoto-sensei?"

"The announcement-" Mikoto spoke until Itachi cleared his throat.

"Okaa-san, it is not your story to tell but Naruto's," Itachi interrupted. "So please do not go saying unnecessary things; and, Uzuki-san make sure to talk to Naruto about this. Again, it is his story to tell, not ours." He then went up the stiars following after Naruto. Yugao looked confused, as did Yukie but then they heard Mikoto sigh.

"Mikoto-sensei, is something wrong?" the purple haired girl asked.

"Nothing is wrong Yugao-chan," Mikoto replied. "It's just that sometimes...I think both Naruto-kun and Itachi-kun are growing up too fast for their own good. The problems Naruto has, as well as the pressure my family is putting on Itachi, are causing to bare the weight of the world on their shoulders. They're only seven for Kami's sake and they are already at the level of twelve year olds and thinking far older than they should." Mikoto sighed again. "Makes me wonder, why those two? Why are they forced to bare the burdens set upon them?" Yugao looked at her sensei trying to understand the words, while Yukie looked up the stairs wondering what type of problems those two boys had.

**~Minutes Earlier with Naruto and Sandayu~**

Sandayu lead the blond up the stairs and down the hall to the last room on the right. "This will be your room, which you will be sharing with...Itachi-san was it?" Sandayu inquired.

"Hai, it's Itachi," Naruto answered. The older man nodded, then pointed down two doors.

"That is the room in which the females in your team will stay," he then pointed at a door that was one door away from his own. "And that one will be the one Yukie is in. There are two bathrooms, the first door on the left of this flour, and one downstairs next to the kitchen. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask me or Yukie."

"Got it, thanks Sandayu-san." The blond opened the door and was about to enter but was stopped when he heard the old man call to him. "Yes?"

"I have a question for you."

"Which is?"

"Do you really not like Yukie?" he asked nervously. Naruto thought for a moment before speaking.

"It's not that I don't like her, since I barely know her."

"Thank goodness..."

"I just don't like her face." Sandayu made a confused face.

"But I thought you said you didn't dislike her?"

"And I don't, I just don't like her face."

"How so?"

"Her smile doesn't seem right," Naruto gave his answer.

"Her smile doesn't seem right?"

"Yeah. Kid's like us are supposed to be smiling and happy, and we smile like we were supposed to. Yukie's smile though is different. It seems off. I seems familiar to me, but I can't seem to place it."

"I see...Thank you for your explanation Uzumaki-san/"

"Please don't call me that," Naruto sighed. "Makes me feel old."

"Hahahah, alright Naruto-san. I hope Yukie won't be much trouble for you."

"So is this our room?" Itachi asked from behind Sandayu.

"Ah, yes Itachi-san. Please, go inside. I think I'll prepare some tea before I leave to meet up with a man about some better paying jobs. Boys." He nodded at the two kids and they nodded back. Itachi watched him go down the hall and then down the stairs before speaking.

"What was that all about?" he wondered.

"What was what all about?" Naruto asked his own question.

"To not call you Uzumaki-san."

"Oh that..."

"Are you still mad that you had to take up your mom's maiden name after your dad disowned you?" Itachi demanded while Naruto looked out the window of their room.

"I'm not mad really, I'm not. It's just, I don't know if I'll ever get used to knowing who I really am, I guess."

"That's easy," Itachi stated in a matter-of-fact tone. "I know exactly who you are."

"Oh? Who am I then?"

"You are Naruto, my determined blond rival. You are Naruto, my sparring partner. You are Naruto, my best friend. You shouldn't care what other people think, just those of who care about you." The two were quiet before Naruto smiled at Itachi.

"When did you get so deep? Did you talk to Shisui-nii before this?" Naruto teased. Itachi rolled his eyes before punching Naruto lightly on the arm. "Thanks, you always know how to brighten my day."

"You tend to have a lot stormy day then." Naruto shrugged.

"Maybe it's part of who I am. Who knows." Naruto then stretched his arms before putting on a determined look. "Now, I'm going to climb up that tree without my hands by the end of tomorrow or I'll go a week without ramen!"

"Seriously tree climbing? I thought you learned this already."

"I did, but I need practice. Besides, Shizune-nee and Sarutobi-jii won't teach me the next part of training already. Then Asuma-nii said that he'll teach me some wind jutsu if I can cut a leaf in half only using my chakra. What is up with that? I think he's just pulling my leg."

"What are you going to do about the girl then?" the young Sharingan user asked.

"What girl?"

"The one we were hired to protect."

"Oh that girl. Well, I'll try to see if I can fix her face."

"Is there something really wrong with it?"

"To me there is. One way or another, I'll make Yukie smile a beautiful smile."

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> Was anyone OOC? Was it good? Was it bad? Please tell me by leaving a review! Oh yeah! I was also being pretty sneaky. Somewhere in there I had hinted at one of Naruto's kekkei genkai. Let's see if you can find it ne...


	3. Small Talk

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note:** Thank you all for the reviews, adds and favorites. If I felt like you're review needed a direct response I have PM-ed you already. Here's the next chapter. For some reason it feels forced to me, but then again, it repeats a few things...oh well enjoy. This was once again beta-ed by my brother who I finally convinced to stop sitting on his ass and get back to writing. The hols has been making him lazy.

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><p>It had been about a week since the beginning of their mission and Yugao found herself sitting on a tree stump in the back of the cabin her team was lodging at for their mission. Next to her sat Yukie, who was looking at the two boys standing in front of them in a clear opening. Mikoto was inside the building, cooking lunch for the four kids. As for the boys, each had a kunai in their hands, the blond had it in his left while the brunette had it in his right. Naruto had a smirk on his face, while Itachi had his sharingan ready. "You ready Naruto?" Itachi asked.<p>

"Ready," Naruto replied curtly.

"Uzuki-san, if you would..."

"Got it," Yugao said. She picked up a small log and threw it into the middle of the two boys. As it was in mid air, both dashed forward. Naruto threw his kunai, with Itachi mirroring the movement. The two blades hit the log, one at the top and the other at the bottom, causing it to spin. As the boys neared it, they both jumped and started to punch and kick the log. What made it astonishing was that they were mirroring each others' movement, all due to Itachi using his sharingan. When the two landed, the log fell as well, showing broken parts. Naruto looked at Itachi expectantly, before the other boy shook his head.

"Damn, we messed up again huh?" Naruto sighed.

"Yes we did," Itachi sounded a little disappointed. "That was our twentieth try at the combo."

"What do you mean?" Yukie asked. "You two looked pretty cool."

"I was off by a second," Itachi replied.

"Plus it's lacking some flair," Naruto frowned.

"It's like it's missing something," the two boys sighed in unison.

This surprised the little girl. Yukie leaned into Yugao's side and asked, "Do they talk like that?"

"Huh?" was the intelligent response.

"They seem to be, um in...um...shynco?" Yukie managed to fumble the word.

"In sync?" Yugao mumbled. She looked at the two boys as they started talking about what they did wrong, and what they can add to improve their technique. "You can say that. I've only known them for about two weeks at most, but from the way things go, it seems like they were really brothers. Even though they act completely different from each other, they think in similar ways and help each other out." Then Yugao frowned, "To be perfectly honest, I feel jealous of them sometimes."

"Why?"

"Not only do they have a a bond between each other, they are better than me at everything that concerns being a ninja." She points over to Naruto who was scratching his head with his eyes closed, obviously thinking of something. "I'm not as strong and not as good at taijutsu as Uzumaki-san, and I don't have as much chakra as well." Yugao then pointed at Itachi, who also seemed deep in thought. "I'm also not as good at tactics or genjutsu as Uchiha-san as well. Also he seems to be much more precise at everything." The purple haired girl let out a sigh. "I still wonder why I'm put in their team."

"It's because you are level headed," Mikoto said, appearing from the door. The two girls looked at her while Naruto and Itachi kept talking. "You see, you are right when you said that Itachi is smart in tactics he tends to get over his head when Naruto is involved. You are there to bring them into order and think of a good way to do things." Mikoto then chuckled to herself, "Besides I think those boys need to have more friends that are girls."

"Huh?" both girls inquired in unison.

'"Well, Itachi mostly, but ever since the whole 'fangirl' incident," Mikoto used air quotes on the word fangirl, "they have been a bit wary of making friends with girls."

"They made friends easily with me," Yugao stated.

"It's because you didn't squeal or want to hug them until they would die."

"How about me?" Yukie asked pointing at herself.

"Well, it seems my son will get along fine with you; however, Naruto is different."

"Is it because he doesn't like my face?"

"Yes, that may be the reason." Mikoto then gave her a cheeky grin. "But I see nothing wrong with your face! You're just too cute. I wish I had a daughter like you."

"Okaa-san please stop talking like that, It's almost as bad as Naruto and the cat," Itachi sighed as the two boys walked up to the female group.

"Hey, I'll have you know Tora-chan is a nice cat, I just feel sorry for all the other teams who go after her," Naruto commented.

"I'm still surprised that cat likes you."

"Well, that cats in your family like me too. Maybe it's because of that time I was accidentally lost in training ground 44..." the blond mumbled.

"You mean the time when that crazy lady went after you?" Itachi asked. Naruto shivered at the thought.

"What? It was an accident I spilled her dangos, and she all of a sudden decided that she wanted to gut me. Luckily she and Shizune-nee are friends or I would have died in there."

"I feel lost again," Yukie mumbled.

"Me too," Yugao agreed. Naruto chuckled embarrassedly.

"Sorry. Um, by any chance do you know a woman by the name of Anko Mitarashi?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, you mean Ibuki Morino's protege in the torture division?"

"Yeah, her. She tried to kill me one day 'cuz I spilled some of her dango. She chased me all the way into training ground 44. I was scared for my life in there."

"Why?"

"You may not know it, but even some jounin are afraid to enter that training ground," Mikoto interjected. "It is full of dangerous plants and animals that are hard to defeat. I'm still surprised that Naruto-kun here survived."

"I am as well," Itachi nodded.

"Heck, even I'm surprised too," Naruto admitted. "But yeah I was in there for a few hours. While I was in there, I started to cry and met up with this big lion! It almost ate me too. It stopped though, I don't know why. I mean I started to sniff me and gave me a big lick before moving away."

"Bet it didn't want to taste ramen flavored kids," Itachi deadpanned. The girls laughed while Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Haha, very funny. A few minutes later it came back with meat. Now I'm not sure what happened after that, since I sort of fell asleep after trying and failing to make a fire. I woke up in the hospital, and Tsunade-baa-chan told me that Ero-sensei had found me. Ever since then, cats liked me for some reason."

"That is weird..." Yukie said with a pout. "Are you always this weird?"

"Is your face always like that?" Naruto shot back.

"Naruto-kun, please stop insulting our client," Mikoto chided.

"I will when she smiles the right way."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Her smile is weird. Like she's not really smiling at us." The rest of the team looks at her who smiles brightly at them, before looking at Naruto.

"There is nothing wrong with it," Mikoto said, although she had a feeling he was right. Her woman's intuition and partly because she was a mother, saw what Naruto was implying. She knew what was wrong with the girl, she could very well tell Naruto that, but she wouldn't for she wanted Naruto to think for himself, as well as test him to see if he can keep his word. "Okay, well now let's get out of the sun and have some lunch." She then turned to Naruto and Itachi, "Remember boys, don't go out after you eat. You may just throw up your food again."

"Hai Mikoto-sama," Naruto said with a smile. He then turned to Yukie. "That's how you smile."

"I know how to smile dummy," Yukie pouted.

"Well, it doesn't look like it."

"Why do you keep saying that?" the girl argued.

"Because it's true!" Naruto shot back. The two seemed to glared at each other before the blond ninja spoke again, "It seems like you don't know how to be angry either."

"Wh-What?"

"This seems..." Naruto stopped talking for a bit, before he snapped his fingers. "It seems fake, like you're acting happy and angry, but you're not!"

"What are you saying?" Yukie asked.

"You seem to be faking all your feelings."

"You're wrong."

"I'm right, just admitted."

"No you're wrong."

"I'm right."

"You're wrong."

"I'm right."

"You're wrong."

"Right!"

"Wrong!"

"Right!"

"Wrong!"

"RIGHT!"

"WRONG!" Naruto stopped after her shout, and she Yukie smirked at him. The rest of team nine sighed in unison. "Ha! I win!" Yukie said with a small smile. Naruto was looking into her eyes for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders.

"If you say so," he replied, then he turned around and entered the building with Itahci right behind him. Leaving the women outside.

"That was odd," Mikoto tilted her head to the side as she spoke. "Don't you think so too Yugao-chan?"

"Hai, that was odd," the purple haired girl said.

"Why was it odd," Yukie asked them.

"Naruto-kun gave up too easily," Mikoto replied.

**~With the Boys~**

"You gave up too easily," Itachi said as he sat down next to his best friend on the sofa.

"I know I did," Naruto admitted with a smile still on his face. "There is a reason for it though."

"Oh? How so?"

"While we were arguing, a small part of her wasn't faking it. A very small part of her seemed really angry with me, while another part seemed truly happy that she won the conversation. She wasn't faking those emotions at that time." Itachi raised an eyebrow before closing his eyes.

"I guess it's your win then."

"Yeah, and I'm going to see if I can make her react more." He was interrupted when his stomach rumbled. "But for now, let's get some food."

**~Couple of Hours Later~**

Naruto was sitting on the roof of the building by himself. In his hands was a a small leaf fro a nearby tree. He had his eyes closed as he sat there concentrating. Naruto then frowned after a couple of minutes of doing that. "Damn, I still can't do it," he said to himself. "Asuma-nii must be pulling my leg since I can't even make a small cut on this stupid leaf." The boy let out a deep breath before lying down on the wooden roof. He closed his eyes as he just listened to the wind and relaxed his body.

It was like that for a few minutes until he heard a noise coming from behind the house. Cracking one eye open and stretching his arms a bit, Naruto crawled over to the other side of the roof and searched for the source of the noise. His eyes had adjusted well enough to the darkness, and the light from the moon helped out as well, so it was easy to find the disturbance. Looking just a bit into the tree line he saw a small figure who was sitting at the base of a tall oak. Since Naruto knew it wasn't any of his team members, all he could guess was that the girl was none other than Yukie. Naruto was about to call out to her and ask what she was doing outside at night with no one watching her but stopped when he heard her. The girl was crying.

"Otou-san...why did you have to die?" she sniffed quietly as she cried next to the tree. Naruto laid down again as he listened to the girl crying for her father. Closing his eyes he let out a shaky breath.

"_Why did she have to show more emotions now? Especially, when it's sadness. I can't handle crying girls,'_ Naruto mental sighed. _'So that's why she's acting out her emotions. She is still in mourning..."_ Mentally kicking himself, Naruto let out a frustrated groan. _'Kami, I've been mean to her, now I feel bad about insulting her.'_ Stopping his train of thought he took in a few deep breaths before letting one long out. _'Well, there's no changing it now. I'll keep my word, and try to make her smile a real smile.' _He then visibly frowned. _'This is going to take awhile.'_ Naruto sat still for a few minutes before taking in a deep breath then..."AAAAAAAGH!"

Instantly Itachi as on the roof with a kunai in hand, "Naruto what is it?" Itachi asked as he looked around cautiously. "Are we under attack?"

"Nope," answered the blond.

"Is there something in the forest?"

"Nope."

"Then why did you scream?"

"I felt frustrated, that's all." Itachi had to stop himself from face faulting.

"You screamed because you felt frustrated?"

"Yep."

"Naruto sometime's you are such a kid."

"I am a kid, I mean I'm only seven and so are you." Itachi opened his mouth to respond but only shook his head in disbelief.

"You know what? Forget it. I'm to tired to deal with this right now. I'm going to bed. Good night Naruto."

"Night Itachi."

**~The Next Morning~**

Yukie woke up later than usual, which was fine with her. She really didn't mind, it meant less time being spent with the ninjas. She honestly didn't mind them, but she hated faking being happy in front of them. Especially the blond idiot, who kept calling her out on her actions. While it was annoying, Yukie had to admit that the blond was able to do something that Sandayu hadn't been able to do ever since the death of her father at her uncle's hand. He managed to make her feel an emotion, even if it was only irritation and satisfaction of winning an argument.

Slowly doing her morning rituals, she went down stairs and found that everyone was eating breakfast but Naruto was missing. "Where's Uzumaki-san?" Yukie asked.

"He's still asleep," Mikoto hummed as she set a plate down for her. "He tired himself out last night."

"After his odd scream, he told me he went back to work on cutting the leaf," Itachi mentioned. "When I woke up this morning he was asleep on his bed, and on his nightstand was a leaf with a small incision on it." Itachi then rubbed some of the sleep out of his eyes as he brought a bowl of miso soup to his mouth, "He wouldn't be quiet for even a few seconds when he came into the room. Woke me up and kept me up for about an hour. I had to subtly place a genjutsu on him to make him fall asleep."

"Oh? So I'm guessing he's going to try even harder now isn't he?"

"Are you sure that is a good idea to let him do that?" Yugao asked. "I mean he seems really tired. Is converting chakra into an elemental based one that hard?"

"It isn't but getting the hang of it is." Mikoto then looked at Yugao. "Itachi here has a little grip on using katon chakra, while Naruto is learning futon. How about we teach you how to learn to use elemental chakra as well."

"Really?" she asked.

"Although we may have to teach you three more chakra control first." Mikoto had on a pensive face before turning to Yukie. "Excuse me Yukie-chan, do you happen to know where the closest body of water near here."

"Oh there is a small lake nearby," Yukie smiled. "Why do you need to know Mikoto-sama?"

"I'm going to teach the kids how to walk on water." She then turned to Itachi, "Go wake up Naruto-kun."

"Hai okaa-san," Itachi stood up, Itachi ascended up the stairs and a few minutes later the girls heard a scream.

"GAH! THAT'S COLD!" Naruto shouted. Yukie nearly truly smiled at what happened, it was funny to see the blond get irritated.

"I just told Itachi to wake him up, not splash him with water."

**~An hour later~**

Team nine plus Yukie found themselves in front of the small lake Yukie had mentioned. The kids were sitting on the ground while Mikoto stood up front of of them scanning the area. "This looks like a good place as any," she whispered to herself. Turning to the kids she smiled at them. "You three know how to walk on trees right?" The trio of kids nodded. "Good this is the same thing, but you have to continuously pour out chakra to keep you afloat, if not you'll fall into the water."

"Is that it?" Naruto asked almost skeptical.

"Yup that is it. Since you already know how to put the right distribution of chakra into your feet through climbing tees all you have to do is keep a steady flow of chakra going out. Just remember to concentrate and you'll be fine. Eventually you won't even notice that you are doing it."

"Oh, that sounds easy enough," Yugao said.

"Good, you can go practice now if you want, oh and Itachi...no sharingan. That would be unfair to the other two if you saw how much chakra you put into your feet."

"Whatever you say okaa-san," Itachi answered. The trio got up on their feet and slowly walked out towards the water. Naruto was the first there and gather some chakra into his feet. Concentrating on maintaining the chakra he walked forward and made it a couple of steps.

"Hey this isn't so bad," he smirked, but sadly on his next step he fell into the water. "GAH! THAT'S COLD!" This time Yukie actually giggled at his expense.

"This seems harder than I thought it was going to be," Yugao said. She got as far as Naruto, and a little beyond before falling into it as well. "KYAA! WHY IS IT SO COLD! IT'S SUMMER!" Itachi rolled his eyes and did the same as the other two, however going farther than both, just by a meter or so before he fell in. Unlike the other two though, he didn't scream out how cold it was. He gritted his teeth and meet up with the other two as they arrived at land. Itachi looked at Naruto, and the blond stared back before they both nodded. Yugao sighed. "You guys are going to make this into another competition again aren't you." The two boys nodded towards her before gathering their chakra and racing off on top of the lake. Naruto got farther this time, matching up to the same distance as Itachi before they plopped into the water again.

"Those boys will turn everything into a competition," Mikoto laughed as she said that to no one in particular. Yukie was giggling along side her, actually laughing at the fact that the blond would complain each time he fell in.

"They seem to be having a lot of fun though," Yukie commented.

"Well that is how those two are. They understand each other better when they compete at something." She then looked at Yugao who was standing still on top of the shallow part of the lake. "However, I wish that they would have done what Yugao-chan is doing instead. Good job Yugao-chan! You'll get the hang of this faster than those two if they keep this up!"

"Thanks Mikoto-sensei!" Yugao beamed. When she lost her concentration to answer she only sank up to her ankles before trying again. All was quiet in the area save for the occasional splash and a little bit of jeering from the two competing boys.

"They seem so carefree," Yukie whispered, almost imperceptible to other people.

"They aren't," Mikoto replied, shocking the girl when the woman answered.

"Wh-what?"

"These kids aren't as carefree as you think. They all have such heavy burdens on them, namely Naruto and Itachi. My husband expects so much out of our son that he doesn't even consider the existence of our other son Sasuke. Naruto also has problems as we said when we got here, and he's trying to make the best of it as he can."

"What is Uzuki-san's burden then?" Yukie asked pointing at the purple haired girl who was taking a break a few feet away, cheering on her two teammates as they continued to race one another to see who would get farther before going into the water.

"Her's is simple, but puts one into doubt. She is in a team with a genius and a prodigy, actually both can be considered geniuses in their own right. As she said so herself, she always feels inadequate when she's around both Naruto and Itachi. How do you think it would feel like to always be in the shadow of two others better than yourself?"

"I think I would be...I would feel pretty bad about myself." Next to her Mikoto nodded

"She's afraid of being a burden to the team." Slowly a smile made its way to her face even though she said that. "Although, it's also because of those two that she is improving at a rapid pace. She's wants to stand next to them not follow behind them, that is why she keeps taking steps forward to eventually reach where they are. A pedestal she put the two on. Not only that, Itachi and Naruto are helping her along the way, just like how Naruto has been helping Itachi with problems."

"How?"

"Just by being Itachi's friend. Someone who doesn't expect something from him other than friendship. It's why Itachi could keep up with the demands of his father, the bond the two share keep him motivated on going on. Naruto is just what Itachi needs in a friend, someone who doesn't demand anything but friendship in return."

"How about Uzumaki-san? How does he rely on the others?" she asked, curious about the blond.

"We're just there for him." Yukie looked confused. "It's not my story to tell."

"I'm telling you I'm lasting longer than you are!" the two females heard Naruto shout. Looking out onto the lake, they saw both boys sitting on the water, rather tired. Still, they were sitting on the water.

"You've fallen in at least an inch admit it Naruto," Itachi deadpanned.

"No I didn't! If anything you're the one running out of chakra."

"We will see." The two glare at each other before just sitting there. A few seconds later Yugao joins the two and sits down on the water as well, starting up a conversation with the two.

"Wow, it looks like that got it, and it only took an afternoon to do so," Mikoto said with a smile. "Of course this is much easier to get than tree walking." Standing up she cupped her hands around her mouth before shouting, "Kids! Let's head back now! I have to make dinner!"

"Hai!" the trio responded and got up from the water and walked over to them. Yukie smirked at Naruto.

"Did you have fun getting wet?" she asked. Naruto smiled at her before nodding his head.

"I didn't mind really," he answered. "I had learned something today, but its freaking cold." Then his smile got wider when he saw her smirk. "Plus today is a good day."

"Why?"

"You smiled nicely today because you actually seemed to have to fun laughing at me mess up." Yukie's eyes grew wide when she heard that. Thinking back on it now, she really did enjoy the stupid antics the boy did. She was feeling some of her emotions again.

"That's not-"

"Whatever you say Yukie," he cut her off. "Let's go back and have some dinner! I'm starved!" Itachi rolled his eyes as did Yugao. Mikoto led the four back to the home, with Naruto at the back with Yukie who was looking at him carefully.

'_Why does he seem to care about me?'_ she thought.

**~A Week Later~**

A week was left in their stay there, for Sandayu was coming back shortly. The three genin kept practicing and training, while also spending some time playing with Yukie. Naruto seemed to spend more time with her more than anyone else, which confused both Yugao and Mikoto. Itachi wasn't confused since he remembered the blond's goal of making the girl smile a beautifully.

So the group watched as Naruto spent time talking, arguing and even joking around with Yukie. Some of the times Naruto seemed irritated, heck most of the time would be correct, but there was some times were Naruto would beam at Yukie happily giving her a smile and a compliment, which would then make the girl blush.

It was night time now and it was raining outside. Everyone was inside spending a lazy day. Yugao was taking time to study some of the house, Itachi was reading from a book and Mikoto was happily cooking in the kitchen. Naruto was sleeping in the room peacefully until something woke him up.

"NARUTO OPEN THE DOOR!" Itachi shouted. The blond fell out of bed with a thud before looking at his friend, who had a worried face.

"Are we being attacked?" he asked.

"No."

"Then what's wrong?"

"Yukie has gone missing."

"What?"

"She went outside before it rained during the afternoon, but she still hasn't come back."

"You sure about this?"

"Yes. Uzuki-san and okaa-san had already left to search, I'm only waking you up to help."

"Right," Naruto put on a rain coat from within his bag before following Itachi down the stairs and out the front door. "Which way do we go?"

"Uzuki-san went south and okaa-san went north. I'll head to the east and you'll head to the west."

"Got it. When do we meet back?" Naruto pointed at his watch.

"If you can't find her in an hour, head back already." Naruto nodded and they both ran off in opposite directions. As Naruto ran through the woods his mind was running a hundred miles a minute, wondering why would she just run off like.

"YUKIE! WHERE ARE YOU!" he shouted as he ran through the forest. He kept searching, continuously watching his watch. Since he was heading only in a straight line, he knew all he had to do was turn around and run backwards to make it back but he had to push forward. Twenty minutes of searching later, Naruto came upon a mountain. His eyes looked everywhere hoping to find some sort of clue to help him find Yukie. His breath was heavy from all that running in the rain though. A boom of thunder and a flash of lightning later, Naruto saw a small opening on the side of the wall. Running there he took a few steps in to rest before looking for her again. As he was about to sit down, he heard some sniffling, looking behind him he looked back and saw a crouched figure in the back. He took a step forward but kicked a stone alerting the other person.

"Wh-Who's there?" the person asked.

"Yukie?" Naruto asked back.

"U-Uzumaki-san?" Yukie sniffed. Naruto let out a relieved sigh.

"Yukie, what are you doing in here? Everyone is looking for you."

"What do you care?" she mumbled as he got closer to her. The seven year old boy sat down next to the seven year old girl while she cried. "It's not like you're my family or anything, or that I have any of it left."

"You're talking about your dad dying right?" Yukie's head snapped to him.

"H-How did you know?"

"I accidentally overheard you one night." Yukie put her head back down while she sniffled a bit. The two sat there not talking until Yukie spoke again.

"Are you going to feel sad for me too then?" Naruto looked at her waiting for her to explain, "Are you going to feel sad for me too just like Sandayu has for the past two years?"

"I'll feel sad for you," Naruto stated, "but I will not pity you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in a similar situation."

"What do you mean?"

"I lost my family too...in a sense." Yukie looked at him.

"Did...they die?"

"No, they didn't die. They just don't remember or love me any more. To them, it's like I don't exist a part of their family. To them I'm just a stranger with a similar name to my mom's old name." Naruto looked at her, and stared her in the eye. "When your father died, at least he said he loved you right?" Yukie nodded. "Then I'm jealous of you. At least you know you're dad loved you when he died; unlike me, who's parents are still alive but don't give a damn about me." Again the two stayed silent while sitting next to each other. Until once again, Yukie once again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered catching Naruto's attention. She was looking into his eyes, and Naruto could see that she genuinely was sorry.

"What are you sorry for?"

"What happened to you, as well as acting in front of you."

"Don't mind it, besides you're the first person I told my situation that is outside of Konoha. It feels good to have someone else know what happened doesn't it." Yukie smiled, a small one, but a real one as well and nodded her head.

"Yeah."

"Let's go back now okay?"

"I-I can't," Yukie stuttered. "I hurt my leg."

"Why didn't you say so earlier," Naruto sighed. He bent down and picked her up. He was carrying her on his back, like a piggy back. Which was funny since she was only a bit shorter than him. "Kami you're heavy." He was then hit on the back of his head.

"I'm not fat!" Naruto rolled his eyes, before reaching down and taking the rain coat.

"Put this on your head, I don't want you catching a cold." Yukie did that, and then Naruto headed back. The two making small talk as they did.

**~A week later~**

"You're an idiot," Itachi said to Naruto. This was met by a slight tap on the back of the head by Mikoto onto Itachi. The group stood outside of the house where they had spent a month at. The group had all packed up and were about to leave, but the farewell became a bit teary eyed as Naruto and Yukie wouldn't stop saying crying. After their little emotional time in the cave, Naruto and Yukie seemed to become even greater friends. While from time to time, Yukie would lapse back into faking her emotions, Naruto would try to reprimand her on it.

"You'll write to me right?" Yukie asked trying to stop her tears. She really didn't want her friend to go, namely due to the fact that she and him had kept talking about their problems and come to terms with one another.

"I'll try," Naruto answered, letting the tears flow freely. "Don't start getting all mopey again when we leave. I'll know you miss me."

"As if I would stupid," she sobbed. She and Naruto shared a hug before he turned around to leave. As Naruto was leaving, he shouted something over his shoulder.

"When we meet again, I'll be a strong ninja! So if you need something just give me a call!"

"Well, when we meet again I'll be super famous! So I'll give you an autograph for payment!"

Naruto chuckled as they left, but still had some tears in his eyes. Yugao and Mikoto were talking amongst themselves and Itachi rolled his eyes at Naruto's farewell. "You're going to be sad that you're leaving your girlfriend?" he asked in a serious tone.

"SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Naruto shouted. Even from a distance away, Yukie heard it and giggled. She entered the house where Sandayu was waiting.

"Did you enjoy yourself Yukie?" the old man asked. The little girl nodded her head.

"I had fun," Yukie told him with an honest smile which surprised the old man.

"How so?"

"Because I made a friend!" the girl said happily as she skipped into the room.

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><p><strong>End's Author's Notes: <strong>Leave a review, telling me what I did wrong or what I did well. Next chapter: The Year of the Super Rookies, to the Chuunin exams!


	4. Clouds

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto, or any other things that may seem to have been taken from another source.

**Author's Notes:** Well guys, again I thank you for adding and reviewing my work. Again if I think your review needs a personal response I have done so through a PM. I would to thank my brother for beta-ing this again. So here is the start of the chunin exams! Enjoy!

* * *

><p>Minato Namikaze, also known as the Yondaime Hokage, was sitting at his desk looking over numerous jounin senseis of several genin groups. "As you may know," Minato started smiling at them, "we have gotten an invitation from Kumo for the first Chunin exams this year." Whispers broke out as the senseis talked amongst themselves.<p>

"Sir, aren't we still hostile with Kumo?" a random jounin asked. Minato shook his head.

"To be honest, our relationship is quite cloudy," this got a laugh out of a few people, "but no we are not hostile with them. So that is why I have accepted. Now how many of you are willing to send your teams to Kumo for the Chunin exams." Slowly, several jounins suggested their groups with the head of the village nodding his head writing them down. After a couple of minutes Minato asked, "Is there anyone else?"

"I Mikoto Uchiha nominate Itachi Uchiha, Yugao Uzuki and Naruto Uzumaki for these Chunin Exams," Mikoto said as she moved up from where she was. Several people started to murmur again, and no one noticed that Minato narrowed his eyes.

"Are you sure about this Mikoto?"

"Of course I am," the Uchiha matron replied. "I have faith in my team just like all the other jounin has in their team."

"But they are just rookies, not even a year into their genin days."

"That is true; however, you forget that my team has already successfully done eight C rank missions. Can any other genin team here boast that in their first year?" Many of the jounin in the room could feel the tension rising between their leader and Mikoto. Some were confused as to why he wouldn't let this one team go to a chunin exam, it's not like they would get past the first round right?

"I'll let them go," Minato said slowly. Mikoto smiled but it was quickly replaced by a frown by his next words, "only if someone would second the notion. Does anyone want to do that?" None of the jounin's spoke up. Sure they thought it would be a joke if the rookies went into the exams, but they did not want yet another competitor in it as well. This caused the Hokage to smile. "Well, it looks like-"

"I'll second the notion," an elderly voice interrupted the meeting. Looking towards the door, everyone saw Sarutobi Hiruzen with a pipe in hand.

"Hokage-sama," several jounin's, even the present Hokage, greeted. The old man smiled but shook his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm just a regular ninja now that hands out missions," Sarutobi smiled. He then turned to his successor. "As I was saying, I second the notion of squad nine going to the chunin exams in Kumo."

"But Sarutobi-sama-" Minato tried to reason, but was cut off with the older Hokage putting his hand up.

"Minato-kun, I hope you would trust my judgement in sending that team out. If anything it shows good faith in our up and coming ninja. Wouldn't you agree?" He smiled at the blond. After a few seconds Minato sighed and nodded his head.

"Fine, I'll allow team nine to go."

"Thank you," smiled Mikoto. "Now if you don't mind, I'll be getting the consent papers." Looking at the former Hokage she smiled at him, "Would you like to come and tell my team the news?"

"I would love to," Sarutobi replied. The two walked out of the room.

"The rest of you are dismissed to tell your teams as well," Minato said with a smile. The rest of the group bowed, before leaving as well. It was quiet for a moment before he spoke again, "I want you guys out of the room as well. I need some time to myself." Putting down a simple genjutsu to make them invisible, four ANBU, the special group of ninja that only listen to the Kage of the village, left the room too. He waited to make sure no one else was there before Minato put his hand on the desk, where a hidden seal was. The room glowed a bright blue before stopping. No sound was coming into the room, even though the window was open. Closing the blinds Minato took a deep breath before doing something no one would have expected. He grabbed some random object from his desk and threw it against the wall of the room, letting out a furious scream. Sitting down, he allowed himself to calm down and look at the situation carefully. Before long all he could do is frown. "Damn, if this keeps going on, the toad sage's second prophecy will come true. I will not allow that to happen. Naruto must lose at these chunin exams."

**~At Tsunade's home Minutes Later~**

It had been about three months since the whole mission with Yukie (he had kept his promise to Yukie and sent a letter once a week). Since then team nine had done only C rank missions since then. They all varied in difficulty: some had them guarding yet another person, another had them gathering data and trading it with another team from another country, and others had them taking stuff from other people. It was also during this time that Naruto and Itachi had experienced their first kill. They were guarding a caravan of merchants traveling through Fire Country to the border of Wind Country. As they approached the desert, several bandits appeared to steal from the caravan. While the members of the caravan could fight, Naruto's group was forced to as well. Both Naruto and Itachi had managed their first kill that day. None would talk for two days and they were trembling like mad. It was on the third day that Naruto got up and punched Itachi across the face, causing them to have a scuffle. In the end, a tired and beaten pair of shinobi were talking to each other about the experience, vowing to never enjoy killing. But today, it was Naruto's team's day off.

"Shizune-nee, when will you get a boyfriend?" asked a very bored Naruto. He was eating some instant ramen as he watched his surrogate sister lounge around the house.

"B-Be quiet!" an older girl, looking around the age of 17, stuttered. She was sitting down across from him. She was wearing a dark purple kimono with a fishnet shirt underneath. Around her waist was a large red obi tying it. "I just haven't found time to get one!" Shizune replied.

"That's what you said a month ago. You haven't gone on a mission in two weeks and Tsunade-chan hasn't given you any work. You should go on a date or something."

"Naruto-kun you're seven, I don't think you should be giving out dating advice."

"I have about a third of the village willing to be my girlfriend, I think I can give advice. Plus, Ero-sensei gives me great tips. Although I don't know what he means by sharpening my kunai a lot, or putting my sword into a girl's sheath. I mean I don't even have a sword, and my kunais are sharp. Huh? Shizune-nee why are you blushing?" the blond asked as he looked at the teen. Her face was beat red while he spoke, for unlike him Shizune understood what he was saying. "Seriously Shizune-nee are you sick or something?"

"I-I'm n-not sick Naruto-kun," the girl stuttered, shocked at the fact that her 'little brother' was taught something like that. "J-Just don't repeat those words again...for a long time. Especially in front of girls."

"Okay, but are you sure. You're still quiet red," the blond said worriedly to the girl. Shizune nodded again. "So as I was saying, you need a boyfriend. Even if it is Kakashi-baka!"

"I don't like him like that!" Shizune shouted. "He's a pervert and weird."

"Really?"

"I don't like him like that, really."

"Then you probably like someone else. Maybe Asuma-nii?" Shizune shook her head. "Um...Genma-san?" Another no. "Gai-san?"

"HELL NO!" Shizune shouted causing Naruto to flinch. "He's even weirder than Kakashi."

"I agree." Naruto then thought for a moment before opening his mouth again. "Then who do you like?"

"Um...I can't say..." she said slowly.

"Why?"

"Because there is an age difference between us, more than five years." Shizune was blushing, the thought of talking about this to Naruto.

"Is he older? Younger? Ew...if he was younger that make you a...pedo-...uh...pedo-"

"Pedophile," a voice finished for him.

"Yeah pedophile! Thanks Ero-sensei!" Naruto thanked the old man behind him, without looking back.

"No problem brat," Jiraiya smiled as he ruffled the blond's hair and sat next to him. "But is this true Shizune-chan? You like someone younger than you?" Shizune was blushing hard again.

"I-I-I-" Shizune couldn't complete her sentence.

"It's okay. We won't tell anyone, right Naruto?" Jiraiya asked the little boy.

"Right! We wouldn't do anything to hurt Shizune-nee after all." Naruto gave her a smile and a thumbs up, Jiraiya mimicked him. The blond then turned to the white haired man. "So Ero-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"What I can't just visit my favorite god son?"

"Well, when you come by the house it usually means you're here to sneak a peek at-" Naruto was stopped from talking when Jiraiya's hand clamped down his mouth.

"What are you doing brat? Hime may be around to hear you say that."

"Around to hear him say what?" Tsunade asked as she entered the kitchen to find a blushing and shocked Shizune, Jiraiya with a hand over Naruto's mouth, and Naruto looking a bit lost.

"Nothing important," Jiraiya forced a laugh before turning to Naruto with pleading eyes. "Right Naruto?" _'Come on Naruto lie for me here,'_ he thought.

"Sure, it was nothing Tsunade-chan," Naruto beamed at her acting his age.

"Then why is Shizune blushing."

"We just found out she's a pedophile." Shizune shrunk back a bit when he said that, then brew back even further when Tsunade raised an eyebrow at her.

"Whatever, brat your team is here to talk to you."

"Huh?" Naruto was confused again. "There isn't a team meeting today." Getting up and putting his dishes in the sink he left the room wondering what was going on. When he entered the living room he was met with Itachi, Yugao and Mikoto all sitting there waiting patiently. "Why are you guys here? Is there something going on?"

"Actually there is Naruto-kun," Mikoto happily said. "I have nominated you three to be part of the Chunin Exams held in Kumo."

"Really!" Naruto shouted excitedly. "All three of us are going?"

"That's right." The blond then turned to his teammates.

"You guys excited about this?"

"As if you even need to ask," Itachi scoffed, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.

"I'm willing to see how far we have come," Yugao admitted. This had Naruto break out smiling.

"This is going to be great!"

"Naruto-kun don't forget that these are an exams, and that you need to take this seriously," Mikoto told him.

"Of course Mikoto-sama, but I can't help but feel excited. We get to see how we rank amongst the other genin of the world. Where do you think we'll stand guys?"

"Um...the middle?" the purple haired girl guessed, unsure if this was a trick question.

"Never doubt yourself Yugao-senpai," Itachi said, he had decided to using her first name after knowing each other for this long. "If you think we are in the middle, then state it with conviction. But for me, I think we're somewhere near the bottom."

"I do too," Naruto agreed nodding his head.

"Why do you say that?" Yugao asked.

"Because I don't mind starting at the bottom."

"Why?"

"Because if we start at the bottom, we have to work our way up. If we work our way up, we'll end up showing the world our true potential," Itachi explained. "Isn't that right Naruto."

"Yeah, we'll prove to the others that we're not just some kids. That just like them we are ninja!" Naruto said with conviction that felt infectious. Yugao was now wearing a confident smile on her face. "Who's with me?" Itachi rolled his eyes and slapped Naruto on the back.

"Baka, we already said we were."

"What's all the commotion about?" Jiraiya asked as he, Tsunade and Shizune appeared from the kitchen. Naruto turned to them and smiled brightly.

"We're heading off to the Chunin Exams in Kumo."

"The Chunin Exams already?" Shizune gasped. "You guys are so young, I remembered I tried the chunin exams when I was twelve and became one when I was thirteen. You guys are advancing faster than I did. Are you sure you guys are ready for this."

"You should have more faith in us Shizune-nee. We'll make it through and become chunin, 'ttebayo!" A silent moment passed before any one could respond. The first to recover was Naruto. "Not again! Man, I hate it when I slip back into doing that." Itachi was chuckling behind him, the girls were giggling, while Jiraiya was out right laughing at him.

"Don't worry kid, some people just never get over that," he said. "But you be careful okay. The Chunin exams are serious stuff."

"I know, that's why I'm excited."

"Good, we'll be leaving in two days with the rest of the Konoha contingent," Mikoto told him. She then presented him with papers. "Fill these out and give them to me tomorrow, after that just rest for the next two days."

"Hai, Mikoto-sama." Naruto nodded. The rest of team nine bid their farewells and left leaving Naruto to do the paperwork. Tsunade went back into the kitchen and Jiraiya left to talk to Sarutobi, leaving Shizune once again to talk to Naruto. It was quiet as Naruto did the paperwork but since he felt the need to talk to the older teen, "So...is the boy you like someone we know?"

"NARUTO!" Shizune shouted.

**~A week later~**

The group had left Konoha were closing in on their destination. With nonstop running they had made it there within the week. Since most of the genin hadn't gone that far from Konoha, this was a sight to behold, but the thing that made it even more spectacular was the scenery. Thy were so high up in the mountains that they were literally in the clouds. For some odd reason though, Naruto felt at home when he arrived, which worried him.

"This place looks beautiful," Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts as Yugao mentioned that next to him. "We're so high up and mountains look so nice."

"If you've seen one mountain you've seen them all," Naruto mumbled. "But the air feels fresher here." Itachi merely nodded his head. The large contingent then entered through the gates of Kumo. Naruto looked around the village and noticed that most of the ninja in the village had a sword.

"You noticed it too huh Naruto?" Itachi whispered. Naruto nodded. "We don't have much experience against sword carrying opponents.

"We'll manage somehow." As they walked forward, they were lead to the hotel they were going to stay in. As was given to every group, they were given a room each with two beds, a couch with a pull out bed, and a couple of seats. Naruto and Itachi had decided to let both Mikoto and Yugao have the bed, while they would trade off on the pull out one and sleeping in a sleeping bag. After settling in, they Mikoto had given them the day to familiarize themselves with the area. Itachi was leading the group as they exited the hotel.

"So where do you two want to go first?" Itachi asked.

"Let's just have a look around, the exams won't start until tomorrow anyway," Yugao suggested.

"Actually I was thinking of going to get some food," Naruto said. "I'm kind of hungry."

"Didn't we just have lunch?" Itachi questioned him.

"That was like three hours ago," Naruto whined. Itachi rolled his eyes.

"Fine, let's go find something for you to eat." Naruto jumped for joy as they walked around the village looking for a food stand that Naruto would like, i.e. a ramen stand. As they walked around all three of them noticed the different villages that were there. Minor villages such as Ame (rain) who must have traveled a long way to get there, as well as the Onsen village, and Kusa. Other than Konoha the only other major village that seemed to agree to go was Iwa. When they passed by the Iwa group, Naruto had hid in between some buildings, knowing full well what they may do to him considering who is father was.

When they finally decided to sit down and eat, at a ramen stand of course, Naruto had ordered whatever their largest serving was which was called the Spicy Thunder special, that was super spicy and super salty, which would be free if the person could eat it under thirty minutes without water. Now since he was friends with Itachi who taught him (beat into him), to eat properly he no longer gulps down the food. Naruto was taking time to savor the soup as he ate it, but still at faster pace than the other two. While Yugao had been accustomed to seeing him eat vast amounts of ramen when he could, the vendor was looking at the blond with slight awe and horror as Naruto plowed through the food.

"Does he always eat like this?" the ramen vendor asked Itachi.

"No," Itachi calmly replied as he ate his salty ramen with a boiled egg, "he's usually faster than this." That made the vendor even more horrified, worried about his sales.

"That's right, back at home Naruto-san would be at his third bowl right now, which would be roughly the same size as this," Yugao interjected as she ate her miso ramen with chicken breasts. Seconds later Naruto put the bowl down and had a smile on his face.

"That was some great ramen old man!" he smiled at him. "I haven't had anything that spicy in awhile. Plus the serving size was great too!"

"You finished that gigantic bowl in ten minutes," the vendor whispered, nearly crying for the loss of extra income.

"Hmm...oh yeah? Wasn't it that if I could eat it under thirty minutes without a drink it's free right?" The vender nodded his head. "Do you think I can have another one then?" Naruto smiled, "If I don't eat it within the same thirty minutes I'll pay for both of them." That had the vendor's head shooting up.

"Really?"

"Don't do it," Itachi warned. "You'll just lose more money. When it comes to ramen, almost no one can compete with this boy." The vendor then remember what they said about Naruto eating more than that and thanked Itachi for the warning.

"Fine then," Naruto scanned the menu again before finding something that caught his eye. "I'll have an order red bean soup with mochi on it please!"

"Okay..." the vendor replied, once again looking at his lost income. The porridge was given to Naruto who slurpped that one too, but a more sedate pace. So slow in fact that Itachi and Yugao were able to finish their ramen five minutes before Naruto could finish the soup. "How come you eat that a lot slower than the ramen?"

"Not a lot of people now this, but this soup is my favorite thing to eat next to ramen," Naruto told the vendor after paying for the soup. "It's sweet enough to fix the salty taste that the ramen leaves behind."

"Hm...never thought of it like that before," the vendor replied. Naruto was about to go on but stopped when Itachi nodded at him. Naruto nodded back before disappearing from his seat.

"Hey where did he go?" the ramen vendor asked.

"He went to get our uninvited guest," Itachi announced, while Yugao nodded beside them. While they were not great sensors, they had trained enough to know when people are following them. Naruto came through the flaps of the entrance a few seconds later, pulling along a girl with brown hair done in a ponytail. She was wearing a black and purple shirt and black shorts. A kumo headband was on her forehead, although from the looks of it she was a quite a bit older than them, probably the same age as Yugao. "Who are you and why are you spying on us?" Itachi demanded as Naruto plopped her down onto the stool. The blond also noticed the dark look that the vendor sent the girl.

The girl looked shocked, probably due to the fact that Naruto had managed to bring her into the shop while also getting the drop on her. After snapping out of it, she looked at each of the three genin. "I am Yugito Nii, genin of Kumo. I saw some Konoha headbands and wondered what they were doing here," Yugito explained. She seemed uncomfortable sitting there and Naruto noticed this too.

"We're here for the exams," Itachi stated with absolutely no emotion in his voice.

"I see," Yugito said before looking at Naruto.

"Is there another reason you're here?" the Uchiha demanded.

"Just one question, why does he smell like a cat?" she asked pointing at Naruto.

"Gah! You mean that lion's spit smell is still on me!" Naruto shouted. "It's been two years already and I still smell like that?"

"I don't smell anything," Yugao stated.

"Neither do I," Itachi agreed.

"How come I can smell it then?" Yugao asked sounding...disappointed? Naruto was sure that was the tone she took up when she said that. "Whatever then." The Kumo ninja stood up and was about to leave but turned to them, "As a resident of Kumo I would like to welcome you to your village and wish you luck in the Chunin exams. When we do meet up we will be enemies then." Yugao nodded at them before running away. When she was gone both Itachi and Naruto frowned.

"She has an advantage against us now," Itachi told the other two.

"Yeah, if she can smell me out she'll be able to find us, and if we fight we won't be able to expect and ambush," Naruto continued.

"Then why don't you keep practicing that one move you have Naruto-san," Yugao suggested again. "The one that will let you know where people are around you?"

"I'll have to keep doing that then. We need to stock up on chakra replenishing pills too if we want to do that," Naruto said. "That move will take out a lot of chakra from me." After their brief lunch the trio left and were walking around the village. After some time they had accidentally come across a training field that was in use. Itachi was telling them to leave the area, but Naruto was rooted at the spot. He was watching the two sparring with an excited smile on his face.

The two fighting were two buff men. They were both dark skinned and had platinum blond hair, and oddly enough both had small beards too. The only way to actually tell them apart other than the clothing they they had was one had sunglasses and was rapping extremely bad. Naruto was ignoring that though. All he saw, or what he didn't see, was the other man, who was covered in lightning who had kept disappearing before his eyes, just like his dad did when when he used the _Hiraishin no Jutsu_ (Flying Thunder God Technique). Before Itachi could stop him Naruto ran out onto the field as the two stopped fighting.

"That was so cool!" Naruto shouted as he ran onto the field. The two men tensed but calmed down, just a little, when they saw the boy running onto the field who was followed by two other people.

"This field is reserved for us only. How did you get here?" the man without the glasses asked.

"We were wondering around and accidentally made our way here," Itachi explained. "I'm also sorry for the actions for my friend, we did not mean to interrupt your training."

"It's okay little girl boy! Meeting with kids is such a great joy!" the man with the sunglasses rapped.

"B...will you not rap right now," the other man grunted.

"Don't be such a downer bro! Rapping like this is the way to go!" B continued on horrible rapping.

"Whoa! You rhyme really well, do you mind if I go for a spell?" Naruto asked in the same way. The blond and B laughed in amusement while the other man and Itachi face palmed. Since Yugao was on her own, she noticed the odd similarities between the two groups which frightened her a bit.

"Sorry for my brother's horrible rapping," the other man apologized. "My name is A, and that is my idiot brother Killer B."

"Itachi, the idiot talking to your brother is Naruto, while the female next to me is Yugao," Itachi introduced his team without giving their last names.

"I take it you three are here for the Chunin Exams, seeing as you are from Konoha," Itachi nodded, the two males then looked back towards their counterparts who were rapping...or trying to.

"Hey Itachi, listen here!" Naruto started with a small sentence.

"A, our rhyme are likes worms in you ear!" Killer B continued.

"I'm mean we're pretty cool!"

"And we do go to some rhyme school!"

"What do you think bro?"

"Our rhyming is one hell of a show?" Both Itachi and A had twitching eyes at the sheer...stupidity the two had presented.

"Oh kami this is going to be hell," both A and Itachi said at the same time.

"You're not half bad kid, not with all the rhymes you just did," B complimented Naruto.

"Thanks, but rapping is not my thing. I came here to ask your bro how he's fast as lightning," Naruto said. That made A and B freeze.

"What did you say?" A asked.

"I wanted to know how you're so fast. That odd lightning move you did, the one that made you really fast! I wanted to know how you did it."

"Sorry kid, but it's Kumo secret."

"Oh," Naruto deflated.

"Naruto leave it alone, we have to go," Itachi stated. "Mikoto-sensei may be looking for us." Itachi was taking care of avoiding giving out more information than he should.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto answered, before a smirk appeared on his face. "Hey A? How about a bet?"

"A bet?" A asked.

"If I could make it to the third round of the Chunin Exams, you'll show me how to do that technique."

"What a silly bet. Why would I do something as stupid as giving a kid the move that only Raikages know?"

"Because I can bet something on the line too, something that would make it your while."

"What would that be?"

"An Uzumaki," Naruto said with the utmost confidence. That had A's eyes widen, while B remained relative quiet. Behind him Itachi and Yugao looked mortified.

"An Uzumaki?" A said carefully.

"Yup. One with the power to seal and control bijuu and bind jinchuuriki." That had A trembling, his father had messed up getting an Uzumaki by the name of Kushina, how could he trust a mere boy to get one for him.

"How can I be so sure you can accomplish this?"

"Trust me I have my ways, I'll even sign a contract if I have to." A looked at Naruto, who seemed so confident in his end of the bargain. There were a few tense moments of silence, before A nodded.

"Fine but we won't need a contract. I mean, a little kid like you wouldn't be able to fool me a jounin."

"True. So we have a deal?" Naruto had stretched out his arm, which A shook. When he did, A was surprised to see a black mark appear around his wrist.

"What the heck is this?" Naruto smiled.

"While I may be only seven years old A-san, that doesn't mean I'm stupid. I had taken up a small interest in seals and that is one of the ones I got used to. It's an explosive seal, which can only be taken off by me since it requires something only I have."

"Why did you put this on me?"

"Just a little...um...what's the word again...insurance that you keep your end of the bargain."

"How come you don't have one?"

"Who says I don't?" Naruto showed his wrist to A. "It will detonate if I don't hold up my end of the bargain as well." A stared at him before grunting.

"Fine. B let's go, we're late for an appointment." A turned around and left the clearing leaving only Killer B and the kids.

"Well, that was pretty cocky of you little dude. You're ways of tricking bro was quite crude," B smiled. "But I like that about you, just be sure you don't bite off more than you can chew!" B then disappeared with a a puff of smoke. When they were gone, Itachi walked up to Naruto and punched him across the face.

"What the heck do you think you are doing!" Itachi roared, which scared Yugao. He showing more emotion than Yugao was used to seeing, but Naruto had seen this side before too. "Did you know this could be considered treason!"

"I know, but it's not like I'm putting anyone important on the line here," Naruto reasoned as he stood up.

"Not putting anyone on the line? I can't think of any Uzumaki that can do what you offered other than Kushina Namikaze, formerly Uzumaki! Are you saying that you are offering her to Kumo!" Yugao was surprised at the information, she never knew Kushina Namikaze was related to Naruto in someway.

"I'm not saying that!" Naruto roared back, punching Itachi in the process. "I didn't offer her up."

"Then who? One of the twins? I sure as hell know that they can't do anything like that yet."

"Not them either."

"Then who?"

"Me." Again a tense silence broke out between the group.

"You...You're offering yourself up...just to learn a stupid technique?" Itachi growled.

"Think of it as you will, but I need to learn that move," Naruto stared at Itachi.

"You're playing a dangerous game here Naruto."

"I know, but all I have to do is meet the requirements to win."

"Which is?"

"Make it to the finals." Again another silence reigned over the group.

"Damn it Naruto you are stupid, but it seems like you need my help again," Itachi sighed. "I'm not happy about your decision , but I don't want to lose a friend. No matter how stupid he is."

"Naruto-san, don't make any more rash decisions," Yugao reprimanded him. "I too don't want to see you leave through this."

"That is why our team will give it our all, not just for a promotion, but for you as well idiot," Itachi said confidently.

"Guys...Thanks," Naruto said with a smile.

"Don't thank us yet," Itachi told him. "The road you put us on is going to be long and hard."

"I know. Mikoto-sama should not catch wind of this you hear?" The other two nodded. "Good let's head back." As they began to walk back Yugao then just remembered something.

"Can you really do what you offered? Seal bijuu and confine jinchuuriki?"

"Yup."

"How do we know you're not lying?"

"Because I used it once today, to catch our little guest."

**~With A and Killer B~**

A went to a sealing specialist to confirm what Naruto had put on him, which was unfortunately true. Only Naruto could take it off and it would explode if he didn't honor his end of the deal. "That sneaky brat..." A cursed under his breath. Next to him, B was laughing hard.

"Admit bro you've been had! Out foxed by a young lad!" B laughed.

"This is no laughing matter B. If this is how good the brat is, then we may have a problem. I may be the first Raikage to lose that technique to a brat out side of our own village."

"Don't make such a fuss, in the exams we have our own little genius! Oh Yeah!" The Raikage known as A nodded his head then.

"That is true, not only that Iwa seems to have sent a prodigy as well." A put on a pensive face before smiling, "This year may just be the year of the super rookies, and while I may have been duped by one, I don't mind watching how things will pan out. Even for that Naruto brat."

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><p><strong>End Author's Note:<strong> Didn't see that coming did you?So tell me what you think. Leave a review so I can know!


	5. Testing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Note: **Thanks for the reviews, adds, and favs. I'm really happy to see that people are reading my work. Again I thank my brother for reading this through, still half-asssed by the way, but it's better than nothing no? Also I think this chapter was pretty...lame. Maybe it's just me, but whatever. Enjoy your new chapter!

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><p>It was the first day of the first part of the Chunin Exams, and most of the hopefuls were rather nervous about it. Sadly, Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha weren't part of that group for they had only gotten up recently. Naruto was still brushing his teeth after eating eating a breakfast that consisted of instant ramen and some fruit, although the fruit was only suggested by Mikoto. Itachi on the other hand was still half asleep and lazing around, although he was already dressed up. The last member of their team was looking at them with exasperation. "Are you guys really going to take your time this morning?" Yugao askedwhined. "I mean I was ready since seven in the morning. It's already nine, and the exams start in two hours!"

"Don't sweat the small stuff Yugao-senpai!" Naruto shouted from the bathroom. "We'll get there in time."

"But you still have to take a bath."

"I don't take hours on end in the bathroom senpai!" Yugao shook her head then looked at itachi who was just sitting on the couch with his eyes closed.

"And Itachi are you really going to sleep at this moment?"

"I am not asleep Yugao-senpai," Itachi replied with his eyes still closed. "I'm merely meditating to focus in on myself."

"I swear I heard you snoring a bit right now..."

"That was just some deep breathing exercise." For once, Yugao rolled her eyes at Itachi instead of Naruto.

"Are you two really not going to do anything to hurry up?" Yugao asked with an irritated tone.

"No," both boys replied in unison. Yugao opened her mouth to speak again, but was stopped when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Looking behind her she saw Mikoto giving her a motherly smile.

"Don't worry about those two Yugao-chan," Mikoto smiled at her.

"But..." Yugao tried to protest.

"Trust me, it is better to let those boys do what they do." She then shook her head playfully. "I remember the day of their genin test, Naruto had slept over at our house. The following morning it was just like this, Naruto waking up late and Itachi just lazing about. Fugaku was so mad when he saw Itachi just doing nothing that morning." She gave a small giggle. "So just rest as well Yugao-chan. If you're stressed about what you guys are going to do, nothing good will come out of it."

"But...Okay," Yugao sighed and sat down on the bed. She copied what Itachi had done and closed her eyes to get a little more rest, since she was more than a bit tired for she started to feel nervous since last night and got limited sleep. The purple haired girl didn't know how long it was but she was shaken awake by Naruto. "Wha-?"

"We have half an hour to get to the testing site," Naruto told her with a smile. "Let's go sleepy head."

"You mean I was for an hour and a half?" Yugao yawned.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"You looked so peaceful when you did," Itachi interjected as he stood near the doorway. "We both thought you should rest a bit more especially since last night you kept tossing and turning."

"You guys heard that?"

"I did, but Naruto was knocked out..."

"Shut up Itachi," Naruto grumbled. The blond then turned to his third teammate. "Let's go yeah? Mikoto-sama is already with the other Konoha jounin and waiting for results." Yugao nodded, then Itachi opened the door.

"Remember, we have to make it to the finals," Itachi told the group as they walked out of the room and locked it. "For Naruto."

"Right, for Naruto," Yugao agreed.

"Heh, it's like you're doubting we're not going to make it Itachi," Naruto smirked.

"We may be strong, but we aren't going to be cocky about this Naruto," Itachi shot back.

"I know. but you're worrying too much."

**~Minutes Earlier within Kumogakure's Council Room~**

"So I take it you have heard about the little bet our young Raikage has made with a boy from Konoha?" Kumo's Council member Han asked. This was a short balding man who wore a bright yellow male kimono and fanned himself.

"Yes we have," various other council members replied.

"That is good then. Then I do not have to bring anyone else up to speed," Han continued. "As you may know, the terms for the bet is that if the brat would win make it to the finals, he would be taught how to use the Raikage's Lightning Armor, according to what my ANBU spies have reported to me."

"What if the boy doesn't make it to the finals?" a random member asked.

"Then we will have something our third Raikage couldn't obtain."

"What would that be?"

"An Uzumaki," Han said with a smirk. This caused whispers to break out amongst the council members. "I know, the failed attempt back then had caused a stir, but this boy may be able to keep his promise."

"How do we know we could trust this brat?" yet another different council member asked.

"He had placed an explosive seal on both himself and A-sama," Han informed them. "Since we couldn't take it off the man himself, and that only the boy can, we can assume that he knows what he has put himself in."

"Then we should make sure the boy loses, or at least has a greater potential to lose, at every stage of the exams then."

"I totally agree with that council member," Han nodded. "Since we are in Kumo, we cannot outright show any sort of favoritism, however we can bend the rules enough to allow them to lose. Namely, hindering them more often than not." He then stared at all the council members at their face. "So, are we in agreement to what will happen? We will try to have the team of rookies from Konoha fail?"

"Hai!"

"Good, now begone. We do not want any suspicion being cast on us." Han mumbled to himself. "A-sama is too prideful to do anything stupid as cheat so we have to do it ourselves." When the room cleared, everything was still until a shadowy figure walked out from his hiding place.

"Well, this Han thinks A is a sucker," the man stated. As he stepped into the light of the room, it was revealed to be none other than a Killer B. "Well then I think I should tell bro about this motherfucka..."

**~Team Nine~**

As team nine made their way to the gathering hall, they had ran into other teams from Konoha, who would smile at them and wish them luck; however, they knew better than that. Itachi, Naruto and Yugao all knew those were fake smiles and they weren't actually being wished luck. The other teams were just being nice since they too wanted to win. "They must think we're stupid or something," Naruto grumbled. "I swear they must think we are below them."

"Don't think anything of it Naruto," Itachi said. "Some of them have tested before and are annoyed at the fact that we are here, mere rookies."

"I agree with Itachi-san," Yugao concurred. "I mean I saw some of my own senpai there and they were glaring at me too."

"Well, then I guess we should show the world just how good we are huh?" Naruto said with a smirk. Itachi nodded and Yugao sighed. The trio finally reached the building they were looking for and opened the door. It was empty save for a long hallway. Looking at each other, they nodded and walked down the hallway. It would be five minutes of walking down the hallway when they noticed something off.

"I think we passed by here before," Yugao mentioned as she looked around. "I mean I this mark on the wall before." Itachi nodded as well as Naruto.

"Of course you would notice the mark, I left it there," Itachi explained. "It was during our third go around that I noticed something seemed off. Namely at the fact that we passed by the same picture of the second Raikage twice."

"I noticed on the fourth go around," Naruto mumbled. "A genjutsu that affects the entire team?"

"Pretty smart move, to weed out the weaker ninjas." Itachi put his hands into the ram seal, as did the other two. "Kai!" they shouted. Around them the hallway seemed to blur away. Naruto had to blink his eyes a few times to adjust to the lightning. Looking next to him he saw that Itachi and Yugao were recovering as well. Taking in the area around them, he saw that they weren't the only ones affected. Several teams from Iwa, Ame and from Kumo itself were just standing there dazed. "Let's go," Itachi said catching Naruto's attention. "We spent five minutes here, and fifteen minutes to walk all the way to this building from our hotel. We only have ten minutes before they close the doors on us." Naruto nodded his head and they finished walking down the hallway, where they came to a large set of double doors.

"Through here is the first step to greatness," the blond said with a smile. "You guys ready?"

"As if you had to ask," Itachi smirked.

"Let us go Naruto-san," Yugao smiled. Naruto nodded and pushed opened the door and they entered the room. As they all eyes fell onto them. Naruto could feel the killing intent of some of the other people aimed at them, as well as the rest of his group, but Naruto and Itachi were able to shrug it off. Yugao struggled a bit, but was able to overcome the feeling as well. They went to the far wall, near a bunch of desks and leaned against it. While they walked over there, they heard some interesting conversations.

"More kids?" a boy asked another one as they passed by some Kumo ninjas. "That's the third group with brats in it."

"I know what you mean. I still can't believe our Raikage let kids into this battle. Not to mention that..._thing..._is here to compete too," Naruto heard the other boy whisper back, sending a glare at the opposite end of the room. Following his gaze his eyes landed on none other than Yugito Nii, who had here eyes closed. Next to her were two boys, who seemed to be in the same age group as Naruto and Itachi. One had dark skin, just like A and Killer B. He had messy platinum blond hair, with a small patch covering his left eye. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants with white wrist guards, his headband was no where to be seen. The other boy had bright blond hair, not as bright as Naruto's but still pretty bright. His headband was around his forehead, and he wore the exact same thing as the other boy.

"Hey Itachi," Naruto called out to his friend. The Uchiha who had his eyes closed cracked one open and looked at his friend. Naruto motioned over to the other side of the room where Yugito and her partners were. "It seems like we're not the only kids around here after all." Itachi nodded.

"Look to the corner of the room to left. You'll see yet another boy around our age," Itachi mumbled. Naruto looked to the other side of the room and towards the corner. There was a group of Iwa ninja, but Naruto was surprised to see yet one more kid in their group. This one was blond, just as blond as he was. His hair was long and straight like a girl's, with a bang covering his left eye as well. He had on a green shirt with a fishnet shirt under it. Black ninja pants and sandals. Around his forehead was his own forehead protector. "Looks like Iwa and Kumo have talented youth too, geniuses in their own right."

"That or they didn't want to be upstaged by Konoha for sending young kids to try and earn the title."

"Can I have your attention please!" an extremely cheery voice shouted causing Naruto to flinch.

"Damn this person is too happy whoever it is," the blond mumbled. They looked to the front of the class to see a woman wearing standard Kumo jounin gear. Black shirts, black pants and white armor like covering over their chest, but with enough free room on the right side. She had brown hair and same color eyes. What annoyed Naruto was her smiling face. Unlike Yukie, this lady's smile was true, but man was it just annoying to look at it. It was too bright and happy.

"My name is Sawate!" the jounin introduced herself. "I am going to be your proctor today!"

"Kami, her voice is like nails on a chalkboard," Naruto groaned. Next to him Itachi nodded his head also trying to to ignore the extremely happy tone of the woman. Yugao was covering her ears with her hands. Looking around, the blond noticed that everyone was wincing as well.

"Please take a seat and I will explain to you what your exam will be!" Slowly, each group took seats in the empty classroom, with teammates sitting next to each other. When everyone was sitting down Sawate clapped her hands together and smiled. "Great! Today is the first part of the Chunin Exams, so this part is going to be easy!" Taking a peace of paper from her pocket she raised it up for the kids to see. "Today you guys are given this! It's a piece of paper with the location of a jounin who will let you pass this test. It should be in the small space in the desk. You can all look at it right now." Itachi reached in and pulled out the peace of paper and examined, with the other two leaning in. What they saw surprised them. It was just one word, stand, with three blanks next to it.

"Hey!" the blond from Iwa shouted. "What the heck is this! We only got a word on it!" Everyone started shouting out their protests as well, Naruto was about to join in the shouting too but Itachi stopped him.

"Yes, everyone only got one word. All of you got the word stand correct?" Sawate smiled. Each person nodded their heads as the proctor smiled. "GOOD! Because that is the first test. Not only are you supposed to go to where the jounin is, you have to find out where it is in the first place! And to make it fair each group has a different destination! There are three areas in all as to where the jounin's can be! And each group can only go to the one on their paper!"

"Then how do we see the rest of the words on this thing?" Naruto grumbled out loud.

"That is simple! We had placed some words in the places where you have visited when you had arrived here! You see we had some jounin follow you and mark the areas you had visited when you first arrived! When you left we had our jounins mark the area with a special ink that would react to the paper you have know! All you have to do is gather find the ink spots in thee area from the places you went to and figure it out! All the ink spots should be in the first three places you had visited when you went to Kumo!" Sawate smiled. "Is everyone clear on what they are doing?" When the groups nodded they agreed. "Oh and one more thing, we had asked several chunin to play in this as well! They are going to try and steal your papers from you and destroy it! So please don't lose them also your entire team has to make it to the place!"

"Wait what!" people shouted.

"You have until sunset to get to your spot! Ready, begin!" Just like that everyone shot out of the room and began looking for the first areas they had visited, with Naruto's group being last to leave.

"What do you think about this Itachi-san?" Yugao asked. "Why would we do this right now?"

"It's an information gathering test," Itachi explained. "Ninja like us are supposed to be able to find the information we need and get away from trouble, that is what the inclusion of several chunins are for."

"I'm probably guessing their around us right now," Naruto sighed. The Uchiha and the female nodded. "Should I start using that jutsu?"

"Just don't strain yourself, you're going to be using a lot of chakra to keep that move up."

"Well if I keep it in a small distance I don't have too waste so much chakra."

"Just be careful. You barely finished cutting the leaf a few weeks ago and barely started trying to split that waterfall in half just before we left. You're control over fuuton chakra is still pretty unrefined."

"I know that, but I'm not trying to cut anything are we? I'm just sending out my chakra..." Naruto argued. Itachi sighed and nodded his head.

"Fine, let's do it, but again be careful." Naruto nodded his head this time and did four hand seals before shouting.

"_Fuuton: Harukaze Miyabi _(Wind Release: Spring Wind Elegance)" Naruto shouted. From Naruto's body a slight gust went forth in a circular direction. Naruto closed his eyes for a moment, his left twitched at times before he opened them. "Crap this is taxing after all."

"How far away is the range so far Naruto-san?" Yugao asked, looking worriedly at the boy.

"About half a kilometer in each direction," Naruto whispered back. "I felt a leaf falling through the dome of wind a few seconds ago. Feels weird that I'm doing this now. I could actually start to feel the drain..." He then turned to Itachi. "Did you bring all the chakra replenishing pills." Itachi nodded. "Good, I may need all of them by the end of the day." They then jumped off into towards the first place they visited since coming to Kumo: the ramen stand.

**~Konoha Current Time~**

"So the exams have begun?" Minato asked. He was sitting on a sofa at home, with Yuri, the blond baby, in his arms.

"Hai Hokage-sama," the bird ANBU replied.

"I see. Did you tell the other jounins about what you are supposed to do?"

"Hai, I have told them to tell their groups to try and take out team nine as quickly as possible."

"Very well, you are dismissed." The ANBU member nodded his head and left the room using Shunshin.

"Honey who was that," Kushina asked as she entered the room with Tsubaki, the red haired daughter, in her arms.

"Nothing much Kushina-chan don't worry about it. We were just talking about the chunin exams." Kushina nodded than sat next to her husband on the sofa.

"Isn't Mikoto's group going there as well?" Minato stiffened and nodded. "That's the one with the Uzumaki boy right? I think his name was Naruto."

"Yes they are there as well." Kushina smiled.

"Well, I hope they make it far. It has been far too long since we've seen an Uzumaki in action other than myself." Kushina stopped talking before a frown came to her face. "Although I have to wonder, why is there another Uzumaki in Konoha other than myself and our family. Also," she stopped and looked at Minato, "why does he look so much like you?"

"I don't know either," Minato lied through his teeth. "I mean with the destruction of Uzushiogakure and the massive dispersion of your people, they may have come across some of my family in other places as well. Naruto may have come to Konoha looking for family to relate to, like you and if by any chance me." Kushina looked at him and slowly nodded her head.

"I guess you are right." The two stayed quiet for awhile until Kushina suggested something again. "Why don't we adopt him?"

"Wh-What?" Minato stuttered.

"Why don't we adopt him? I mean it would give him a chance to be closer to us, and it could give me a chance to teach him some of the Uzumaki clan techniques."

"I don't think that's such a good idea..."

"Why?"

"I mean, he's already living with Tsunade-sama and he seems to be happy."

"He lives with Tsunade-sama?" Kushina asked in surprise. "I didn't know that!"

"You didn't?"

"No...But I guess it would make sense though. The Senjus and the Uzumakis were close to each other, distantly related of course. Why did he go live with them and not us instead? I mean his parents may have told him to find some Uzumakis to live with right?"

"Um...can we talk about something else?" Minato tried to steer the conversation away and Kushina noticed it. She noticed that he was willing to stop talking about this specific topic.

"Why don't you want to talk about this Minato?" the red haired woman asked. "This involves someone in my clan, so I should be concerned, and as my husband you should be concerned with it as well."

"I...you see..." Minato tried to come up with a convincing lie. He knew he wasn't able to continuously lie to his wife's face, he knew she would catch him in the act.

"Hokage-sama," a voice interrupted, which let him let out a sigh of relief, which Kushina caught. Both turned to the door and saw a man in complete ANBU gear: black pants, grey chest armor over a sleeveless black shirt, and a katana on their back. On his hip was a weapon's holster and a white mask with a broken left side. What set this person apart was his hair, which was grey and gravity defying. His left eye was covered with a part of his forehead protector and the whole bottom of his face was covered by a black cloth mask.

"Ah Kakashi," Minato smiled at the welcomed interruption. "How many times have I told you to call me Minato."

"Hahahaha, sorry about that," Kakashi eye smiled and scratched the back of his head.

"What are you doing here Kakashi?" Kushina asked with a smile, although it had a threatening tone. _'Why did you come at the point where I was asking my husband something important?'_

"Oh, Kushina-sama. I'm sorry for bothering but I'm here on to ask Minato-sensei about something." The cyclops then turned to his former teacher.

"What is it that you need Kakashi?" Minato smiled.

"I was just wondering, who will you take to Kumo when our genin make it to the third round?"

"Oh about that, do you mind if we discuss this back at the tower." Minato placed Yuri in the crib nearby them and gave Kushina a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you later Kushina." He then looked at Kakashi, "Let's go." When they left Kushina furrowed her brows before looking at the girl in her arms.

"Should we go talk to Tsunade?" Kushina asked the mini-version in her arms. Tsubaki made some gurgling noise and Kushina smiled, "Okay let's go! Let's get the crib and put you along with Yuri and talk to her!"

**~Team Nine~**

Naruto, Itachi and Yugao had all went back to the ramen stand and began to look for what they needed. Naruto and the rest of them scanned the entire stall with a piece of paper. They were surprised when they found some ink blot on Naruto's seat. The word "THE" appeared on the first blank spot on the piece of paper. "Well, that's just freaking great," Naruto groaned. "That doesn't help us in any way what so ever."

"At least we found one part, and that was only within the first hour," Itachi answered. Yugao nodded her head and then turned to Naruto.

"How are you doing Naruto?" she asked. "Are you still holding up?"

"Yeah, it's just hard to sort through who all these people are. I can only make out shapes," Naruto replied. "Although, it seems like our guests know where we are, two people just entered my field and are will be on us within the next few minutes."

"Damn," Itachi cursed. "I thought we'd have more time. Should we fight them or run?"

"We should run," Naruto replied.

"I agree," Yugao stated.

"Do you still have the paper Naruto?" Itachi asked as he looked at them. The blond nodded. "Good let's meet up back at the designated meeting spot for us." Yugao and Itachi ran out of the room and jumped from roof to roof, leaving Naruto alone as he came out of the room. Naruto's eyes locked onto the two people who dropped in on them. They were in civilian clothes, but had forehead protectors on them.

"Seems like the other two left the blond boy alone," one of the chunin smirked.

"Yeah that's right, well it makes it easier for us," the other one shot back.

"Oh?" Naruto asked. "I didn't know you guys took this seriously enough to take care of a kid like me alone."

"Of course we are taking you seriously. We are getting paid a C class mission rate for this after all."

"Oh? A C class mission? How many of those have you done yet? Three? Four?"

"Shut up brat! Our group has done seven! Sadly our third member is sick right now so he can't help us!"

"Oh my seven C rank missions!" Naruto gasped in mock shock. "Want to know how many C rank missions I've done? I've done eight."

"That doesn't mean anything," one of the Kumo ninjas replied. "You can't how good a ninja is by how many missions they have done." This caused Naruto to smirk.

"I could guess what kind of ninjas you are. Crappy ones."

"What do you mean?"

"You can't even tell when a clone is standing in front of you instead of the real thing," Naruto then poofed in a cloud of smoke.

"What!" both men shouted in unison. "He was a clone all the time! Why didn't you notice!"

"Why didn't I notice! Why didn't you notice!" The two started to argue as they went away. From out of a dark alley Naruto walked out.

"Stupid idiots," the blond sighed. Reaching into his pocket he popped in a chakra pill. _'Damn, a Kage Bunshin and Harukaze Miyabi drain me like hell. Now to meet up at the training field we met A and Killer B at.'_

**~A few minutes later~**

Naruto appeared next to Itachi who was frowning, Yugao was frowning too. "So no luck?" Naruto asked.

"No," Naruto answered. "Those chunins weren't all that smart either. Couldn't even tell a clone from the real thing."

"So you lost them?" Yugao asked. The blond nodded. "Good, because we couldn't find the clue in this area."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we checked it everywhere." Itachi then closed his eyes before speaking again.

"They said the ink blots wold be in the first place we visited right?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah," Yugao replied.

"Since we visited the ramen stand, we know that was one of the areas we visited."

"Right?"

"But you have to remember, where we actually stopped by first. Which was where again?"

"What are you saying?" Naruto asked confusedly. "I mean other than the ramen stand, the only place we have been to our hotel and the toll booth..." Naruto stopped talking when he understood what Itachi was insinuating. "You mean those are the places they can be at?" Itachi nodded. "So let's go there then!" The group ran towards their hotel. As they did Naruto whispered, "Someone is following us."

Just as he said a person landed in front of them. The entire group tensed when they saw the person who appeared in front of them. He was wearing jounin gear, but what set him apart from other Jounin was the fact that he had a white porcelain mask in the shape of a cow on it. "What is an ANBU member doing here?"

"I am here to stop you," the Kumo ANBU replied. "So now give me the paper, and you won't have to be hurt." Itachi looked at Naruto and nodded.

"Yugao-san, please hurry up and get to the places to get where the ink is," Itachi stated.

"But Itachi-san," Yugao tried to protest.

"GO!" Naruto shouted. "Itachi and I can hold him off for a bit."

"BUT HE'S AN ANBU!"

"We know that," Itachi replied. "Look we don't have much time, but you can get the ink blots for the paper. So hurry!" The purple haired girl looked at both of them noticing that they were determined and that they wouldn't budge. Yugao nodded and tried to run past the ANBU member, but he stepped in front of her.

"Where do you think you're going little gir-" The ANBU was interrupted as both Naruto and Itachi tried to kick him in the face. The ANBU dodged to the right, but it allowed Yugao enough time to escape. "Damn! Get back here!" the ANBU shouted. He was about to run after her when a kunai was about to get him. His hand caught it. "You think that this would stop me?"

"Now but the thing on it might," Naruto smirked. The ANBU reacted fast enough and threw the blade to the side where it exploded.

"Well then, it seems like I'll have to beat a lesson into you two boys," the ANBU cracked his knuckles.

"We just have a question for you before we do anything else," Itachi stated.

"And what is it?"

"Why are you, an ANBU, participating in something like? We only thought that chunins were going to be involved in this?"

"Oh that, let's just say we know of a certain...bet."

"I see." Itachi cracked his neck this time. "Naruto, we have a few hours to keep him busy and for Yugao to find the paper."

"You know we won't win right?" the blond retorted.

"I know, but we don't have to beat him." Naruto chuckled before cracking his own neck.

"Well, let's do this."

**~With Yugao~**

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?" Yugao muttered as she rifled through their hotel room placing the paper in front of almost every piece of furniture she could see. "Come on where are you? I need to find you so the boys don't get hurt." She flung pillows away from the bed. Not finding any sort of ink blot, she moved onto the table set. Placing the piece of paper on everything she can. She then put the paper in front of the book Itachi was reading the night before. When she did that, she saw the word "GREATEST" appearing on the second line. "This is great!" Yugao let out a sigh of relief. "I just need to find the one in the toll booth!" She then turned around and left the room.

As she exited the hotel itself, she came to a stop when she saw the two chunin that were at the ramen stand. "Hand over the paper girlie," one of them smiled at her.

**~Naruto and Itachi~**

Naruto was punched into a a tree as he blocked the attack from the ANBU. "Kami that hurt," Naruto cursed.

"It should," the ANBU smirked under his mask. "You are nothing compared to me." Naruto coughed before standing up again.

"I know you're holding back, but that punch was like a freaking love tap from my baa-chan." The ANBU was about to respond, but ducked a kick aimed at his head from Itachi. The ANBU then punched Itachi as he stood up. "I have to say you guys are pretty good, for a bunch of seven year olds I mean. Although I think it's time to stop playing around." The ANBU walked closer to them. "My superiors told me not to kill you or physically cripple you in any way, but I think a sound beating is good enough for you the likes of you two."

"You should really stop underestimating us," Itachi replied.

"Why should I take you as seriously as I take all my other missions. You guys are only seven year old genin after all?"

"That's right, but you forget, we're good enough to be in the chunin exams," Naruto said as he stood up and prepared for another attack.

"That doesn't mean anything. From the looks of things, you guys made a bad choice in fighting me. If this were a real mission, you'd be dead and I'd be after your third teammate. That shows terrible decision making that is required for being chunins."

"Hahaha, he think's were that stupid," Naruto laughed. "You see this guy Itachi? This guy is acting rather high and mighty! Are all Kumo ninja like this?"

"I don't know Naruto, but Kumo ANBU-san," Itachi replied as he looked at the ANBU. "You have already failed your mission."

"What do you mean? All I have to do is disqualify you for me to complete it, and here you are. All I have to do is cripple you," the cow chunin told them. Naruto and Itachi started to chuckle. "What's so funny?" Slowly their chuckles became full blown laughter. "What are you too laughing at! Don't you get it! You're chances of winning are over! You won't be able to become chunin!"

"It's not over for us," Naruto replied as he calmed down.

"Although it may be over for you," Itachi continued to talk. "Not only did you fail your mission..."

"And let us get away..."

"You beat up two Kumo ninja. So more or less, you're fired."

"What are you talking about?" the ANBU growled. The two boys smiled before, putting their hands together and shouting "KAI!" A plume of smoke covered them and from out of the smoke fell two beaten bodies. To be more specific, to beaten bodies of the chunin sent after team nine. "WHAT!"

**~With Yugao~**

Yugao was about to attack the two Kumo chunin before the one who didn't have their hand out smacked the other one on the head. "Idiot, drop the act," the ninja said.

"Fine, fine Itachi," the one with his hand out grunted before he transformed into Naruto. The one next to him turned into Itachi.

"Naruto-san? Itachi-san?" Yugao asked confused. "But...I thought...weren't you guys back there?"

"Look we'll explain on the way, but for now let's get a move on," Itachi said as they ran towards the toll booth.

"How are you two here?" the purple haired girl asked.

"We were always here," Naruto replied as they kept running. "We were always watching what was happening."

"What do you mean?"

"What Naruto is trying to say is we never left your side," Itachi explained. "The entire time we were watching you from afar."

"Huh?"

"You see Yugao-san," Itachi continued. "From the moment you woke up from your nap to the ramen stand incident, we were never with you."

"Then who were those with me?"

"Henged shadow clones," Naruto revealed. They got to the toll booth at the moment and hurriedly looked for the ink blot somewhere there. The Kumo ninjas did nothing to stop them. It only took a moment, for they found it when the paper had passed over a copy of Yugao's identifications. The word "RAMEN" appeared on it. "Oh you have to be kidding me... THE GREATEST RAMEN STAND! We went there at the very beginning!" Itachi groaned in annoyance while Yugao was still confused.

"Wait tell me what happened? I'm still confused," the purple haired girl stated. They had then ran towards the ramen stand they were at in the very beginning.

"Look I'll tell you the extremely short version. You fell asleep; Naruto and I made a plan; Naruto made clones that looked like us; you went to the exam place with clones while we tailed you. Are you with me so far?" Itachi asked. Yugao nodded to respond. "While we were tailing you, we saw a pair of chunins following you. We knocked them out, henged them and put a genjutsu on them while they were still asleep. We made them think they were us. So during the ramen stand incident, we switched off the clones with the henged people. So to be perfectly honest, we were never with you, and were hiding in the shadows."

"You guys...didn't tell me this plan why?" Yugao asked hurt.

"For it to work, we had to make you believe that we were still there," Naruto told her. "I really didn't want to do this, but it was just an extra precaution to make sure we didn't mess up."

"But you guys could have told me something at least..."

"Look," Itachi said as he put his hand on the girl's shoulder. "Yugao-san, we are a team here. What Naruto and I did, was not a good thing to do in a team. However, we knew it would have led to a failure if we did tell you. If it makes you feel any better, I'll let you beat up Naruto after the test today."

"Yeah...wait what?" Naruto asked surprised. Yugao was silent, and both boys knew she was mad at them. Before they could speak, the girl beat them to it.

"Fine, I agree with what you are saying. But next time, you will include me in all your plans, got it," Yugao told them. "Or else I'll tell Mikoto-sensei your little secret."

"What secret?" both boys asked in worry.

"I'll tell her that Itachi-san has a crush on Hyuuga from our village and that Naruto-san was the one who replaced the sugar with salt when she tried to drink tea," the purple haired girl threatened. Both boys stopped in their tracks, eyes wide, as they looked at her.

"You wouldn't dare..."

"I would. So do we have an agreement boys?" Both boys nodded their heads and Yugao smiled at them. "Good, and it looks like we are here!" The two boys looked up and found themselves at the same place they ate lunch on the first day. The store was called "The Greatest Ramen Stand." They walked in and was greeted by the same vendor from the day before.

"Ah it's you three!" he shouted. "Is the blond one here to eat me out of house and home again?" They didn't respond, save for Itachi showing him the piece of paper. The vendor looked at it for a moment before smiling. "HAHAHA! I didn't think you'd three would end up at my store for the first part of the exams." From under the counter the vendor produced a forehead protector and placed it on his forehead.

"How come you sell ramen even though you are a ninja?" Naruto asked. "Not that I mind really since, well, I love ramen. I'm just curious."

"A second job is fun and all, plus I just love to make ramen," the vendor/jounin replied. "But this is not about me but you!" The ramen vending ninja smiled at them, "Congratulations! You have passed the first part of the Chunin Exams!" The trio smiled.

"Alright!" Naruto jumped up into the air.

"Thank goodness," Yugao sighed.

"Heh," Itachi smirked. The trio turned to the ramen vendor and bowed. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome kids," he told them. "Now in two days go back to where the first exams was explained for the second test." The man produced a trio of wrist bands and gave it to them. "Where these when you do, it will show them that you have passed the first exam, and don't worry no one can steal them. Since when you put them on, an array of seals will activate and bind them to your arms." Team nine nodded and put them on. The wrist band glowed for a few seconds before dying out. "Okay, you kids can go rest."

"Thanks again ramen ninja dude!" Naruto smirked. "I'll be back in a few days for more food." Team nine walked away.

"Good luck with the exams then kids!" shouted after them.

**~With A and Killer B~**

"So the blond brat's team passed huh?" A laughed to himself as he looked at the roster of teams that passed. He was sort of happy that Naruto's group had made it through the first round, seeing as the council was trying their hardest to cheat him a victory. His eyes trailed down and smiled, "So did Darui's and the Nibi's team."

"Her name is not Nibi, but Yugito," B rapped. "Try to keep that in your mind bro."

"I know that. What I want to know is how two genin boys managed to knock out two chunins twice their age."

"Well you see when I asked the chunin on what went down, they were making a frown yo!" B started to do a jig and it irritated A a bit. "One was like: we were ready to spring the attack! Then the other said: But those two boys snuck up on our backs! They got hit on the back of their neck, and it must of have been painful as heck! When they came too, they were beaten up by the ANBU! At the hospital they told me that they couldn't remember anything before it went black and that their memories were all out of whack!"

"I see..." A swiveled his chair to look out into the village he controlled. "So they said they were overpowered by both of them and that a genjutsu was placed on them."

"Right bro!"

"Just how strong are those two boys to be able to do that?" A murmured.

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><p><strong>Original Jutsu:<br>**_**Fuuton: Harukaze Miyabi**-original jutsu created by Naruto Uzumaki. As of the moment, this jutsu is still under construction. For now the effects is that the user sends out a dome of air in all directions. The more chakra you put into the move the farther the radius. As long as the jutsu is active, the person using it will know what enters in and leaves the dome. Sadly since it is still being perfected, the user cannot distinguish between two different things that are nearly the same in build, nor can they for sure tell what the person or thing looks like._

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><p><em><em>**End's Author's Note:** Leave a review! I need to know what I did wrong or right to make this story a better read!


	6. Thoughts

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto, Kishimoto does.

**Author's Note:** Again thanks for the reviews, and everything else. This chapter is a bit more dull, for certain reasons, but I will make up for it in the next chapter. So please, enjoy yourself. No one beta-ed this since my bro and I are at college again.

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><p>"So the brat made it to the second stage," Tsunade said with a smirk. Next to her Shizune was frowning and Jiraiya was laughing his ass off.<p>

"Of course he did! He was trained by me after all!" the toad sage boasted. Tsunade then whacked him on the back of his head.

"You barely train him. Most of the time he's training on his own or with Itachi. Refining his own skills," the slug princess told him. "Heck most of the time you are with him is tell him to focus his chakra and to eat right."

"Hey! I'm just preparing him to start training in the ways of being a sage!"

"You want to take him as an apprentice?" Shizune asked surprised.

"Yeah, I want to teach him my ways. Although, I'll probably wait until he's at least a jounin to start doing so."

"You better wait. Give him more time to grow up at least," Tsunade scolded him. She then looked over at the clock. "She's running late, that girl."

"What are you talking about Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked

"Oh I forgot to tell you two, but yesterday I had a visitor."

"A visitor you say?" Jiraiya quirked an eyebrow. "Who would this be?"

"Kushina."

"What!" both Jiraiya and Shizune shouted.

"She visited me yesterday, asking questions."

**~Flashback~**

Tsunade was sitting in the kitchen drinking some coffee. She had taken the day off from the hospital that day and left Shizune to practice her skills. She was just resting when she heard a knock on the door. Walking to it, she opened the door. "Good morning Tsunade-sama how are you today?" Kushina greeted as Tsunade opened the door. Alongside her were her two daughters in a carriage.

"Kushina..." Tsunade gasped. "Wh-What are you doing here?"

"I came here to talk, about a person. May we come in?" Tsunade nodded her head and moved aside. Kushina walked in brought the stroller as well. "Do you mind if I unseal their crib?"

"No not at all," Tsunade answered even though she was surprised seeing the woman there.

"Are you okay Tsunade-sama?" the red haired woman asked as she unrolled a scroll and unsealed a crib from it. Gently placing both baby girls into the crib next to the sofa, Kushina sat down and looked at Tsunade.

Remembering that she hasn't answered yet. "I'm fine, it's just that I'm surprised you're here. I mean we rarely get to talk to each other nowadays. You're taking care of Yuri and Tsubaki there almost all the time."

"And you're almost always in the hospital," Kushina teased. Tsunade rolled her eyes and looked at Kushina.

"What are you doing here?" the blond asked. "It's not everyday you visit someone like me."

"I'm here to ask you a few questions actually."

"What about?"

"The boy living with you. I want to know about him," Kushina admitted. "I wanted to talk to you about Naruto Uzumaki." Tsunade's eyes widened when she heard that.

"Why do you want to know about him?" Tsunade asked looking suspiciously at her guest.

"Minato and I were having a conversation and he came up. For some odd reason, He keeps trying to avoid the topic all together. Like he doesn't want anything to do with him."

"I see..." Closing her eyes Tsunade shook her head and giving out a sigh. "To be honest you should talk to him and not me. He is the one you want to find out about right?" Kushina nodded. "Then you should go talk to him. Although, he is at the Chunin Exams right now."

"I know that, that is why I came to ask you. I mean he does spend a lot of time with you right?" the red haired woman asked.

"He spends more time with Shizune and the Uchiha's then he does with me," Tsunade told her. "Sadly, both of the Uchiha's that know him the best are with him in the exams and Shizune is privy about her friendship with Naruto. I think she has a crush on him, even though she is a decade older than himself."

"That's odd..." Kushina frowned.

"It is, but she won't say it. I mean who would say they have a crush on a seven year old?" Tsunade chuckled.

"I see. So are you going to tell me about Naruto?"

"I'll tell you about him, but only the basics about him. The rest, you have to ask him personally."

**~Flashback End~**

"Why did she come of all times to talk about him now?" Jiraiya asked after hearing the story. "Why two years?"

"I think it's because Naruto is interacting more with Minato through the course of missions," Tsunade explained. "You know how sometimes the teams have to report to the Hokage himself for some certain missions?" Shizune and the toad sage nodded. "Well, I know Minato wants to spend as much time as possible with his kids, and Kushina brings them so I think the reason she's seeing him more. That and I think the fact that another Uzumaki, that is "not part of her family" is in Konoha is having her worried."

"I see," Shizune stated before her eyes widened in recognizing something said in the story. "HEY! I DO NOT HAVE A CRUSH ON NARUTO!"

"If you're denying it, it just makes it more suspicious!" Tsunade smirked. "So you are a pedophile!"

"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shrieked. Jiraiya, who was forgotten in the moment, was writing something down in a black book.

'_An older woman, who the hero thinks of as a sister, holds more than sisterly affection for said hero...I'm going to use this as my new story plot,"_ the pervert thought. _'I think Naruto will give me better story ideas as he grows up. More so than Minato."_

**~Team Nine~**

It was two days after the first test, and Team Nine found themselves back in the same room. Since they got there a lot earlier than the previous time, they decided to just sit down. When they got to the door, they showed the jounin there their wrists with the bands on them. The jounin had let them in and saw that other than Yugito's group, and the group from Iwa they were some of the first ones there.

So they just sat there spending their time doing nothing, while waiting for every other team to appear. Rather, they tried to, but someone decided to bother them. "I see you guys made it past the first round," a female voice said. Looking to their left, Yugito was standing there, with the rest of her team standing a few feet away.

"Why wouldn't we have made it through the first round?" Naruto asked. "I mean you and your kids are here too."

"It's because we are some of the best Kumo has to offer. I'm not sure if I could say the same about you and Konoha."

"You can think whatever you want," Itachi answered as he looked towards the front of the room. "All that matters is that we are here. Other than that all I can say is that all we can do is move forward."

"Good words Itachi," Naruto smirked. "So you can tell your little group to watch out for us. For we will get the better of you guys." Yugito glared and then walked back to her group.

**~Team Kumo~**

"What were you doing over there?" the dark skinned boy drawled at Yugito as she came back. Yugito looked at him with a slight glare.

"It's nothing Darui," Yugito mumbled.

"I here she had met up with them before this too," the other boy on their team stated.

"Oh? Is that true C?" Darui asked.

"Yeah, apparently they had met at the ramen stand where those kids passed on the test two days ago."

"Did any jounin of from our place see how they acted throughout the first test?" To answer Darui's question, C shook his head.

"Apparently they didn't do any of the fighting. One of them placed a genjutsu on the chunin's going after them and had them go out and make other people believe that they were the kids from Konoha. Well, at least that is what I heard from A-sama," C explained.

"I see...Do you know anything about them Yugito?" Darui asked looking at the older girl.

"One of them smalls like a cat," Yugito stated. "The blond one. He said a lion licked him one day and for some reason I could smell it."

"That is odd...but will come in handy if we are going to be have to find them. C, what else do you know about them?"

"The other male in their group, from what I've gather, his name is Itachi. From what we know of other villages, the symbol he wears on the back of his shirt is none other than the Uchiha fan symbol. So that means we area against an Uchiha," C informed the other two. Yugito and Darui stiffened a bit.

"Do you know if he has the sharingan yet?" Yugito asked.

"Not sure, again they didn't fight during the first exams against the chunins that were sent after them."

"Just like us huh? That makes this kind of dull," Darui mumbled. He then looked over at Team Nine. "They make an interesting group. What do you know about the female in their group."

"Nothing to be honest."

"How about the skills of the blond?"

"Nothing."

"Damn that dull," Darui sighed. "Although, this is going to be an interesting match then."

**~Team Nine~**

"All I'm saying is that we're going to eat steak after this test," Naruto frowned.

"And I'm saying that we're going to eat at that soba place," Yugao beat us. "Cold noodles are better than steak!"

"Steak is better!"

"Soba!"

"Steak!"

"Soba!"

"Itachi what do you think we should eat?" they both asked their third teammate.

"Buffet..." Itachi drawled out. That got the other two to stop arguing.

"Well...that makes sense right?" Yugao said to Naruto.

"I agree, we all get what we want..." the blond stated. He then smirked. "Since Itachi suggested it, I say he pays for it."

"What!" Itachi shouted.

"Seconded," Yugao smiled. Itachi began to mumble to himself, cursing himself for even suggesting the idea to the two.

**~Team Iwa~**

"So what do you think of the brat over," asked a black haired teen. If one were compare his height, he was about twice as tall as Naruto. He had on a dark purple kimono top and black pants. His right arm and shoulders were exposed, but there were several bandages covering his chest. On his back was a large blade, and his hair was about as long as he was tall.

"Which one Irouh?" a shorter male asked. He had red hair, just about as long as he is tall too. He was wearing a yellow shirt and a black shorts. On his legs were some bandages, seemingly red with blood. He wore his forehead protector around his head, and it covered his right eye. Across his back was a staff.

"The blond one from Konoha, Ura," Irouh supplied. "He's looks suspiciously like the Fourth Hokage doesn't he?" Ura squinted and looked at Naruto before gasping.

"He does doesn't he!" Ura then turned to the last member of his group. "Deidara! Do you think he looks like the Yondaime?"

"He actually does, hn," Deidara replied. He was the other kid in the tournament, the one Itachi had noticed on the first day. "I didn't know that the hokage had a kid."

"I did, but from what I heard, it was only two years ago and that they are girls," Irouh mumbled. "Do you think that blond has any relations to the Hokage in any way?"

"Looking like him makes him suspicious hn," Deidara stated. "If anything we can tell the Tsuchikage about this later, but for now we should focus on the test. This is a great place to show my art to the world!"

"You and your art," Ura sighed. "I still don't see how they agreed to train you already for the blast corps even though you are only six."

"I'm just great hn."

**~Team Nine~**

"Why do they keep staring at us?" Yugao asked her teammates. Naruto and Itachi looked around and saw that every team was looking around the room, but the fact that the remaining Konoha teams, the Kumo teams and the Iwa teams were all looking their way.

"It's rather obvious isn't it," Itachi whispered, only looking ahead. "Kumo is staring this way because it is likely that the bet between our idiot over here and A-san has reached the ears of the council and want us to fail."

"Iwa's reasons are obvious too," Naruto continued as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "I, for some reason, remind them of the one who had shamed them during the Third Ninja War, the Yondaime Hokage." When he said that, Yugao finally noticed it. Even after two months with being with them, for some reason she couldn't make the connection.

"You do look like the Hokage," the purple haired girl whispered. "Why?" Naruto looked at her with a sad smile before looking up again.

"That...is a story you'll hear after these exams. I promise you that much Yugao-senpai." Turning to Itachi she asked him if he knew what he was talking about with just a look.

"I already know of Naruto's secret. We basically grew up together, so that much is obvious. Again, you will be told at the end of the exams, since by then Naruto will be able to speak to you without problems occurring."

"What?"

"I'll tell you at the end of the exams because there is a chance where I will no longer be part of Konoha anymore and their laws won't apply to me," Naruto stated. Yugao wanted to continue but was interrupted by a loud voice.

"ALRIGHT KIDDIES CAN I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!" a loud cheerful voice shouted. Naruto and the group had to cover their ears as they looked up to see who the heck was talking. At the front of the room was none other than Sawate smiling at them. "It is nice to see you all here! I'm glad to see that more than a few of you had made it through the easy first round."

"You weren't much of a proctor you know!" Naruto shouted from his place.

"I know that! It was part of my job to over see the ninjas working for us to catch you." She then smiled at everyone. "As you may know that this part of the exams had required you to get a wrist band from the jounin you met with correct?" Multiple heads nodded to confirm it. "Now those will be a big part of the second exam! Those bands will act like watches for this next exam."

"What is this exam you keep telling us about hn?" Deidara asked from the background.

"It's will be called the Key Battles!" Sawate exclaimed.

"Key battles?" Yugito mumbled.

"That's right Key Battles!" Sawate then produced a key from somewhere on her body before showing it to the rest of the testers. "Keys similar to this one have been placed in various spots all over the mountainous areas near Kumo. Just like the paper in the previous exams, these will guide you towards a set of keys your group needs to find. The wrist bands have been inscribed with various seals to show a map if you focus some chakra into it. The map will show you the locations of several nearby keys, as well as a way to get back to Kumo. Now the whole point of this test is to get a key and unlock those wrist bands of yours. When you do a jounin will appear to take you back to Kumo."

"So this is like a item finding test?" Yugao asked.

"Oh its more than, it's called the Key battles for a reason! There are only eleven hidden keys in all, meaning that the current twenty four teams will be cut down by more than half!"

"That's a lot of people going to be out!" some Konoha genin shouted from the back.

"Of course it is! We need to cut down on all the slackers attending this thing after all! This will take place outside of Kumo just as I had said, in the mountain side. There will be a ring enclosing the area in which all of you will be competing in, and several jounins making sure you don't leave the area by accident. Also there is a five day time limit. If you don't find a key in fie days you are immediately disqualified! So will you all follow me towards the designated area?" She got up and started to walk out of the room.

**~With A and Killer B~**

"So the second part of the exams started?" A asked a Kumo chunin kneeling before him.

"Hai, Raikage-sama," the chunin replied with his head hung low.

"I see, you are dismissed." The chunin nodded his head and walked out the door. A sat alone, with B outside of his window rapping about how awesome he was. " I really had hoped the council would not do anything to hinder the exams, but with them finding out about our bet it will be harder to do things now. I don't wan to win unfairly, but I will need to butt in now."

"You know A," B stated as he popped his head through the window, "I didn't know you were up for fair play!"

"I'm usually not," A mumbled. "This time is different. This time my life is on the line and I'm actually intrigued by what the boy will do in the next few days."

"Are you worried you might die? Don't worry 'cuz I don't think Naruto is that kind of guy!"

"Why do you think that?"

"It's because he likes to rhyme like me! And you know you can trust Killer B! OH YEAH!" A groaned in despair at the continuous rapping.

"I hope you don't mind but I'm going to ignore that. And while I do trust you, I don't trust that Naruto kid. At least not enough to entrust my life with him."

**~In Konoha~**

"So Fu, Torune and Tera had made it to the second exams?" an elderly voice asked.

"Hai Danzo-sama," a man with a black rain coat with a white porcelain mask in the shape of the face of a rabbit replied emotionlessly.

"Very good," the elderly man replied. Stepping out of the shadows was a man who looked to be about in his late sixties. His hair was still black, but it was mostly covered up by bandages, in fact most of his face was covered up by bandages. From his forehead and his right eye were covered by it. He wore a white top and black shinobi pants. His entire right side of the body was covered by some odd ceremonial gown that was red and black. On his chin was cross shaped scar. His left eye stared at the ninja in front of him before asking something else. "What news do you have on Mikoto Uchiha's team?"

"Team nine as they are called have advanced into the second exam as well Danzo-sama. Unfortunately our spies were not able to get any information about what had happened during the first exam."

"They were not able to gather information on the kids?"

"Hai. It seems that the boys, Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, were able to completely stay off the radar during the exam."

"I see, that is sad. I will have to retrain them to make them better in their job then. Any other information on that team?" Danzo said sternly

"There was a rumor going on about them going on in the council of Kumo that our spies have been able to hear."

"Explain."

"It seems that the Uzumaki boy has made a bet with the current Raikage."

"What sort of bet?"

"The Raikage has agreed to teach the boy how to use the legendary Lightning Armor Jutsu if the boy manages to get to the finals of the Chunin exams." Now that had Danzo interested.

"The technique that only Raikage's are supposed to know?" The ninja in front of him nodded. "What happens if the boy loses?"

"He will give to Kumo an Uzumaki. An Uzumaki who can bind and control jinchuuriki."

"Do you mean that he is willing to give up Kushina Namikaze to Kumo? One of the girls maybe?" Danzo asked, still intrigued.

"No sir. From what we have gathered, it seems that he is offering himself to up to Kumo." Danzo remained silent for a time, with his ninja still kneeling before him. Turning his back to the ninja, Danzo gave out his order.

"Have Torune, Fu and Tera help out team nine. We need that team to win at all costs. And you are dismissed."

"Hai Danzou-sama," the ninja nodded his head before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. Danzo walked down a hall into a room, his own office. It was bare of many things, for all it had was a desk and a bookshelf.

Sitting down in his chair Danzo began to think. _'Naruto Uzumaki: surrogate grandson to Hiruzen, the surrogate son of two Sannin and the long forgotten son of the current Hokage. He is either hard headed beyond all belief or very confident in his abilities. If his test results during the previous results and missions, it must be the latter. Also, if what he is offering to Kumo is true, he will be able to tame the jinchuuriki. Then if he can learn the jutsu of the Raikage, he will be strong and a major asset to Konoha.' _Using his left hand Danzo rubbed his chin. _'Knowing Hiruzen, he probably made sure the boy would know about ROOT and make sure he wouldn't join, but still as long as the boy doesn't get lost to Kumo, he will become one of the greatest assets to Konoha in history. They must not fail.'_

**~With Minato~**

"I see, thank you Tora," Minato told a ninja kneeling in front of him.

"It was my job Hokage-sama," the man replied. This man looked just like the one talking to Danzo but several difference. He was wearing a white coat instead of black, he had a tiger mask instead of a rabbit, also this person had emotion in his voice and wasn't devoid of it.

"Thank you, you are dismissed Tora." The one known as Tora nodded and actually walked out the door instead of using a shunshin. Minato sat there for a moment and the frowned. "Naruto is much better than I thought. However, he still needs to fail. He must fail."

"What do you mean by that?" a voice asked.

"What do you need Jiraiya-sensei?" Minato asked aloud. It was still for a few moments before the sound of wood meeting stone was heard. Looking over to the window, Minato saw the toad sage standing there.

"Well, I came here to greet my one and favorite disciple, but then I hear this." Jiraiya glared at the Hokage. "Now, what do you mean that Naruto must fail?"

"It is nothing..." the blond tried to avoid the subject.

"It is not nothing. I have the right to be worried when one of my students wants his own son, my godson, to fail the chunin exams."

"He is not my son! Not anymore!"

"Why are you so rough on Naruto! Why do you hate him!"

"Because he will ruin my life!" Minato shouted, his face full of rage. Jiraiya, on the other hand, looked extremely confused.

"What do you mean that he will ruin your life?" the toad sage asked. Minato's eyes widened, before he cursed under his breath. The Hokage knew he wouldn't be able to escape from this situation, and that Jiraiya was not weak enough for a seal to work on him. Taking his time, Minato let out a sigh before speaking.

"Jiraiya-sensei, please have a seat. I have something to tell you about." Jiraiya did just that, waiting for Minato to speak. "The day after the Kyuubi attack, the day after you came with the prophecy, the toads have came to me with a message."

"Message?" Jiraiya repeated.

"Yes, a message that contained a prophecy that concerned me."

"What did it say."

"That in a little over a decade, my life would be ruined." Minato gulped down the saliva that was caught in his throat as he spoke, since he was the only one who knew about this. It was a hard subject to tell anyone. "All my friends, my family, and the rest of the village will come to dislike me. Not only that, but my title of Hokage will be taken from me as well. Although that last part was not clear who will take it."

"And you think it is Naruto?" Jiraiya asked. Minato nodded. "That is some total bullshit! How the hell do you think it will be Naruto that will ruin your life. How do you know that it is him that will do this to you! That prophecy was vague enough for it to be anybody!"

"I know it will be Naruto, but you didn't let me finish to explain." The blond man sighed, feeling as if the weight of the world on his shoulders. "The prophecy gave a small description of what the person would look like. It will be a person with my hair and my eyes who will do this to me. There is no one else I know of that looks like me, so it only leaves one person..."

"Naruto," Jiraiya finished. The two were quiet before Jiraiya spoke again. "You do know, that by doing what you have done to Naruto you may have already started him on that path you are afraid off. He may hate you because of this."

"He won't hate me, from the looks of things he seems perfectly fine and happy." Minato replied. "Although he seems mad at some points, especially when he sees me."

"And you don't think he'll hate you through your actions?"

"No, not at all."

**~Mikoto~**

It has only been four hours since the second exams started, four hours since she last saw her kids off for the exams. Three hours since they were told to wait, and Mikoto was was surprised at her team. She was already summoned to the area where they were, their wrist bands were off and a key was in their hands. It was safe to say that she was stunned. They stood there with a smirk on their faces, even Itachi had one, as they looked at her.

She was worried about what would happen to them at the beginning of the exams, especially with the whispers coming from the other Konoha jounin senseis. They had all been talking amongst themselves, forgetting that she was in the room. She heard that most of the teams from Konoha were gunning for her team for some unknown reason. She was worried for their safety, but she didn't have to be. Again, standing before her was her team, perfectly fine...if you count the small amount of bruises, cuts and dirt on them fine.

"What happened to you three?" she asked gobsmacked. She knew they were strong, she was there when they trained with each other, but she didn't know how strong they were since the three would train together outside of their usual meetings with each other.

"Found a key, fought some genin, got dirty, waiting in this exam hall for the next four days to wait for the rest of the people to arrive," Itachi stated. "We'll see you later okaa-san. Naruto, Yugao and I have to were just allowed to greet you. For the rest of the week we aren't allowed to speak to you." The trio turned around to leave, but Naruto and Yugao gave her a tired wave before leaving. That left Mikoto even more confused.

"Just how strong are those kids now?"

**~Within the testing grounds (same time)~**

Yugito, Darui and C had arrived at the epicenter of a battle field. At the start of the test, they were dropped down in a random place by Sawate and a couple of jounin. They had found that the wrist bands did show a map when they channeled some chakra into it, with the person wearing the bands marked as a triangle and keys represented as dots. The downside was that there was no real indication as to how far the keys really were. They had found that they were far away from several keys and decided to run in a certain direction. After a few minutes of running, they had witnessed several battles along the way, but they were all far away from the keys. Within four hours, they had seen avoided most fights they had come across since all of them were still looking for keys. They were heading to the south towards a key when suddenly went out.

Were they arrived caused them to look confused. The land was burnt, several long cuts were in the surrounding forests and mountain sides, and there were some upturned boulders here and there. "What happened here?" Yugito asked.

"I don't know, but it looks like there was a big battle," C replied looking around. "Darui what do you think?"

"We just must have missed the fight, and whoever won had gotten the key," the dark skinned boy answered. The group then heard a groan coming from somewhere, and they followed it. A few minutes later they found a group of six Konoha genin tending their wounds. "What happened to you guys?"

The six reacted at the words and were wearing fear on their faces. Looking at them, they were not ready for another fight. "Don't worry, we won't harm you seeing as there is no key nearby," C told them. The genin looked at each other before calming down a bit. "So tell us what happened to you guys."

A male genin looked around, before he licked his dry lips to wet them. "We...we were beaten badly," the genin answered. "Our teams met up, and decided to ambush another team. A team our leader wanted to eliminate from the tournament. But...it turned out bad. We couldn't even handle the situation."

"Care to explain?" Yugito asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We had ambushed them, a group of one girl and two kids, from Konoha. We jumped them from the bushes, and what not. But there was snag..." The boy swallowed. "It was like they were expecting us. The three we jumped were just kage bunshins that were henged. After the failed ambush, a heavy wind blew us away from each other. Then boy, the Uchiha, came out of nowhere and separated us even more, by putting a fire in between us and our groups. Then the girl, she knew some Doton jutsu and made a wall around us to make sure we wouldn't interfere. Then they took us out one by one. The blond did most of the physical fighting, he even broke one of our members legs."

Darui and them looked over and saw that a girl's leg was in a splint and winced. "He apologized to me before he did it," the girl mumbled. "He left me a first aid kit after the fight." She then blushed thinking about him. "Now that I think it, he seemed apologetic the entire thing. Makes him kind of cute."

"So are you telling me that a group of six genin, were over powered by seven year olds and a girl?" Darui asked. Almost wincing at the fact the they were in the same boat.

"They were not just seven year olds and a girl," stated the original boys. "They were like the perfect team. They watched each other backs, knew each others moves. The boys provided long and midrange help, even close range they were annoying. The girl used a sword, cutting us and keeping us at bay, and provided protection in her use of jutsu. They are just too good." That left Team Kumo silent for a moment.

"Damn, we better hope that the next round isn't a team battle or every other team will be in trouble," Darui grumbled.

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><p><strong>End Author's Note: <strong>Tell me what I did right and wrong. Tell me what you think! Also I am intentionally leaving out most of the fight scenes that concern Naruto's group, just so you can keep guessing at their skills just like the other major people in the story are too.


	7. Sample

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or anything else for the matter. I'm rather poor.**

**Author's Notes: **Again thanks for the reviews, adds, favs (Although I like reviews more than the other two). If I had felt that your reviews were in need of a direct answer, I would have pm-ed you. So far people keep asking me if I had read some Greek plays recently and the answer is no. I read a lot before and my story just so happened to mimic one by accident. Here is your story and hope you enjoy. Also, on monday after school I will be giving my brother that ass kicking he deserves, so if you are a fan of an author on this site called **sunwraith** rejoice! For after I beat him up, I'll have him start writing again. That poor poor, lazy bastard. That is why he didn't beta this chapter.

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><p>After a week passed, all the teams have gathered at the same building as they were in the previous times. Most teams looked worse for wear when they arrived, namely due to the fact that they had survived in the wilderness for more than a few days. Surprisingly enough, not even eleven teams had made it past the second test. Other than Naruto's team, the few other teams that had made it were Team Deidara, Team Darui, another team from Konoha and two other teams from Kumo. A total of six teams only made it. They were all standing in a large empty hall. It was large enough to be considered a training field, with stands and benches far off on the side. What set it a part from other rooms was that the thing benches had large walls separating them from a field in the middle of the room.<p>

In front of everyone was A, donning his Raikage outfit, and the various jounin's of all the squads. As for the teams there were all standing in line with their respective teammates. They were all waiting for the Raikage to say something. A cleared his throat before looking at all the teams. "Greetings to all of you who have made it this far into our chunin exams," A greeted them. "I am proud to say that all of you have shown remarkable skill in the previous tests to make it this far. Before we continue however, I would like to explain why we have chuunin exams." Some where near the back of the line he heard a groan, followed by the sound of something being hit. "Er...as I was saying. These Chuunin Exams are held twice a year every year to select who would be Chuunin, that is what most of you know." There was a collective noise of agreement. "However what you may not know is that, there is another reason for these exams. Some people say that it is to 'build our friendships' and 'make stronger alliances' or some bullshit like that," A stated. Several jounin around there sweat dropped when he said that. "But the real reason is that, this exam is none other than a replacement for wars between us."

"The hell? What do you mean by that?" Deidara shouted from his group.

"As you may know, alliances rise and fall. These allies we have right now, may be enemies or were enemies back then. To prevent unnecessary bloodshed amongst the fighting people, several of kages back then decided to set up a...safer...battlefield in which people can fight. Not just for themselves, but for the pride of their nations as well. People would have fought for the land's prestige."

"Prestige?" Yugao repeated with uncertainty.

"People who watch the third round of the exams will be leaders and influential from many countries who would become later clients to us shinobi, and the leaders of each village will be there to watch each grueling battle. If the people of the country are seen as strong, then they will get more clients. If they are seen as weak, they will lose them. It will also show other nations the force you have. It would be like saying 'This is our strength come at us if you dare!' In other words, it's a political message to the other nations."

"Then why the heck should we risk our lives fighting in these stupid tests then!" Deidara shouted again. "It would be pointless to die here and now!"

"Listen brat," A growled. "The strength of the country is the strength of the village who support it. The strength of that village comes from the shinobi who work there. And that strength is only born through risking your neck in life or death battles!" Deidara flinched when A shouted that. He then turned to all the groups. "These exams were made to show the strength of each country to other people and to show off you, the shinobi, who wield that strength. It's only important because we are risking lives here, and that is why those who came before you, who have fought in the Chuunin Exams, for this reason." All the occupants were silent before A cleared his throat. "Seeing as I have said my piece, I will leave it to your previous proctor. Sawate!"

"Yes boss!" Sawate exclaimed cheerfully jumped in with a smile on her face. This caused, not only the current students, but many of the adults to cringe in the sheer loudness of her voice. She smiled at the kids before clapping her hands together. "I'll explain to you the third exam. They were be all one-on-one battles!"

"Oh thank kami," Darui mumbled when he heard this. He saw Naruto looking his way with a raised eyebrow before turning back to the proctor.

"These battles have except you cannot have outside help. Also you must listen to what the proctor says. If I say to stop the match, you must stop the match." She then pouted, as she counted up the number of competitors. "However it seems like there are a bit too many of you here right now. So, we are doing a preliminary round first! There will be nine battles, cutting this entire turn out by half!" She then pointed at a large screen behind the teachers. "Your names will appear there to who you should battle. Every one else would stand behind the enclosed spaces behind the walls, to watch! So now let's see who will fight first!" She pressed a switch she took out of her pocket and aimed it at the screen. Several names flashed through rapidly, not staying on one for more than a second. When the names stopped two were in bright yellow. "The fighters in the first match of the preliminaries are Naruto Uzumaki of Konoha against Ura from Iwa! Every please go to the safety zones with your senseis to watch the match. The two fighters please stay on the battle field."

Everyone did as she said leaving only Naruto, and the red haired boy with a staff from Iwa. The red haired boy was holding his staff lazily at his side while smirking at the boy that was a head shorter than himself. "So I'm against the mini-Yondaime Hokage huh?" Ura smiled. Naruto raised an eyebrow in response. "You got any relationship to him?"

"Who knows?" Naruto replied with a shrug and a smile. "I think myself as a long relative, but then again with the name Uzumaki, I may be more related to his wife than anyone else. Although, I wish I had the trademark Uzumaki red hair instead of this yellow one? I mean, can you imagine me with red spiked hair? The chicks would dig me." That had everyone sweat dropping at what he said.

"Chicks already dig you stupid!" Itachi shouted from the sidelines. "Remember your fangirls back home?"

"Don't remind me!"

"Are you two ready?" Sawate asked them with a smile, trying to get back to the matter at hand. Ura nodded his head, but Naruto stopped them.

"Hey, you're name is ura right?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, what do you need?" Ura smiled back at Naruto.

"Well, I want to ask you something." Ura motioned for him to go on. "Care to make a little wager?"

"What sort of wager?"

"A simple one really, if I win the bet you give me let's say...a hundred ryou. If you I'll give you the same amount."

"That's pretty minor don't you think?" Ura replied.

"Fine, a thousand ryou. Sound good?"

"Agreed. What are the rules?"

"Also simple, I bet I can beat you using only five techniques."

**~Sidelines~**

Itachi slammed his head into the head wall. "That idiot is going to mess up," Itachi mumbled.

"He's getting too arrogant," Yugao said,

"I agree, he is thinking too much of himself," Mikoto agreed.

"No, both of you are wrong," Itachi sighed after rubbing his forehead. The two women looked at him. "It's not that he's arrogant or anything. It's more likely he'll forget what number he is on."

"What?" the two women asked.

"Mother, you're not there on the weekends when Yugao, Naruto and I all practice on techniques and the basics. We've gotten far stronger than we were from the beginning of the creation of our group. Yugao-senpai can use her element just like Naruto and I can, still shaky like both of us, but she can use it. I have been building up physically, while Naruto has been taking care of his limited genjutsu knowledge, and Yugao has been learning to use a blade. So you don't know how much stronger we are." He then looked at Yugao. "Senpai, what you don't know is that Naruto...is far stronger than most give him credit for."

"Is he stronger than you?" Yugao asked.

"Yes he is stronger, but I am more skilled," Itachi told them. "I have faith Naruto can win this; however, I'm afraid he'll lose this bet since he tends to forget to keep count on anything.

**~Battle field~**

"Are you serious? You think you will win using only five attacks?" Ura laughed.

"No, I don't think I'll win with five attacks. I think I'll win with five techniques," Naruto smirked at the older kid.

"Interesting. I accept, be prepared to lose all your money Mini-Yondaime."

"So are you two finally ready to begin?" Sawate asked with a raised eyebrow. Both boys nodded. "Then...BEGIN!" Naruto jumped back away from the staff wielding boy, who had pointed his staff at Naruto. Naruto went through four hand seals, before shouting his technique.

"_Fuuton: Harukaze Miyabi! (_Wind release: Spring Wind Elegance)" A tiny gust of wind escaped from his body, and everyone, save for his team, awaited it's effects. When nothing happened, Ura looked at him funny.

"What was that?" Ura asked, feeling insulted. "It did absolutely nothing, you just wasted a move!"

"Eh...if you say so..." Naruto then did the come here motion and said, "Come at me bro."

"As you wish!" Ura rushed forward and thrust his staff at Naruto's body. As it neared, Naruto casually half turned and it flew past him. "Hmm, you have faster reflexes than I thought." Before Naruto could respond, Ura swung himself sideways, to attack Naruto from that position. The Iwa ninja was surprised to see Naruto easily predict and dodge the attack, before rolling backwards and away from him. Ura rushed him again, doing various stabbing over and over again, but each move would miss only by an inch. "Stop dodging!"

"I don't think so," Naruto replied jumping back again. He jumped over a sweep at his feet and rolled to the left. Naruto stood up and smiled. "I really don't want to be hit by your stick."

"I didn't know Konoha shinobi were all cowards!" Ura shouted as he jumped back. "Let's see you dodge this!" Without doing any hand seals, Ura slammed the his staff into the ground, causing several orbs of the earth to pop out, nine in total. They then arranged themselves in a diamond shaped, and floated a bit. The Iwa ninja then held the staff oddly. He held one end of the staff in one hand and the the other was placed in between his pointer and thumb of the other. "_Doton: Turiku Shooto _(Earth Release: Trick shot)!" As if he were playing billiards, Ura slammed the end of the staff into the grouped up orbs. They all scattered in different directions. Some bounced off the floor, others the ceiling and walls, before attacking Naruto. Everyone watched with bated breath as the attack closed in on him.

Naruto sighed before closing his eyes. "HA! You giving up kid!" Ura shouted. He was about to continue insulting him, but was surprised to see him dodging all the attacks with his eyes closed. One went near his head, to which he tilted to the side, before crouching then jumping to avoid two more. The orbs were crazily flying around him as he kept dodging attack, after attack, after attack. After two minutes of a relentless assault of rock orbs, it stopped and Naruto opened his eyes. Everyone was shocked at what had occurred, except for his team mates. "H-How did you manage to avoid all those! With your eyes closed too!"

"Mah who knows?" Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Is that it or can I finally attack?" Ura gritted his teeth and slammed his staff in the ground again.

"_Doton: Tsuchi no kiba! (Earth release: Fang of Earth)!"_ From behind Naruto, a large earth spike erupted giving the blond no time to react.

"Naruto! Look out!" Yugao shouted. The blond didn't even turn his head as he ran forward, and stopped just in front of Ura, with the other ninja's technique not even touching him. As he stopped in front of Ura, the Iwa ninja was surprised when he looked down to see Naruto smirking up at him. The blond had his right arm cocked back with his left placed on the guy's chest.

"Since you showed me some good move's, I think I'll do some too to return the favor." Ura gulped, before jumping back getting his staff ready to block. "It still may be incomplete, but..." The Iwa ninja started to shake in fear for some reason. The smirk on the boy's face was making him feel nervous.

'_I didn't see him during the second or first exam. So I can't say for sure what moves this kid has, and the fact that he looks like the freakin' Yondaime Hokage doesn't help either. I have to go defensive,'_ Ura thought. Doing the Tiger seal he shouted "_Doton: Doryu Joheki (Earth style Rampart)!"_ A small rock wall erupted in front of him readying him for any attack. He then prepared his staff again and looked to either side and the top of the wall getting ready for the attack.

"The first stance..." Naruto whispered. He then shot forward, before turning left at the wall and towards the right to see Ura already getting ready to attack.

"I see you brat!" Ura shouted as he stabbed with his staff again. At the same time Naruto threw his fist.

"The first stance: _Burakku Sheru (Black Shell)_!" Naruto didn't even try to dodge this time, as he plowed forward. When his fist hit the staff, the older boy smirked. The seven year old smirked back when his fist connected. The entire staff cracked the moment it met his fist, then it was destroyed.

"Wh-what!"

"The second stance: _Baamirion Uingu (Vermillion Wing)_!"Naruto spun on his heel before step putting one foot in the space between Ura's feet. Before the staff wielding ninja could do anything, a small gust of wind pushed him back and causing him to stumble. Naruto then rushed forward, while his opponent was still falling. His hand's were back in the position they were in before Ura ran back. With his right arm cocked back and his left arm put forward. "The third stance: _Howaito Dansu (White Dance)!" _With a speed no seven year old should have had, Naruto laid down a flurry of attacks to the ill prepared shinobi. Kicks and Punches landed on Ura's body in several places, and Naruto kept pushing forward with each hit until Ura hit the wall separating him and team Darui. Ura felt the wind leave his body.

'_Where is this brat getting this power from!" _The Iwa ninja thought. _'I can't even feel some of my body parts due to his attacks.'_

"The fourth stance: _Buruu Sutoomu! (Blue Storm)" _The Iwa ninja closed his eyes and Naruto thrust both arms out with his palms forward. Naruto didn't even touch Ura and they both stood still. After a couple of seconds Naruto put his arms down and walked away. Ura opened his eyes and saw the boy leaving the arena.

"What do you think you are doing, turning your back on the opponent!" Ura shouted.

"The match is over, I won," Naruto replied. "In five moves too."

"But I'm still standing! That last move of yours did nothing!" Naruto closed his eyes and shrugged.

"Whatever you say..." As the blond started walking away, Ura growled under his breath.

"Don't you dare pity me!" he shouted after losing his cool. As he took a step forward, he suddenly felt woozy and dropped to one knee. He held his stomach as he started coughing out blood. Ura then fell to his side and kept coughing out blood. "W-What d-did you do to me?" Ura stuttered, starting to lose his breath.

"That move I did, is a dangerous move. It could kill if I had more power," Naruto admitted. "I'm still seven so it's severely lacking it. Try to not waste your breath, you're going to need it. Also don't forget you owe me a thousand ryou." No matter how hard Ura tried to stand up, he just kept falling and coughing up blood. As Naruto walked to where his team was he heard Sawate calling him out as the winner. When he reached the bench where his team was, he saw Itachi looking at him with his Sharingan activated. "Already studying the opponent eh Itachi?"

"You didn't have to show off you know. By the way, when did you have time to learn something like that?" Itachi asked still looking at Naruto. The blond smiled back at him before shrugging like he did that entire day.

"Congratulations Naruto!" Yugao said as the girl hugged her teammate. "You did great! You made it to the third round!"

"I guess I did, didn't I? Thanks Yugao-senpai!" As he was about to return her hug, Mikoto came forward and placed his head in her breast, by accident, when she hugged the seven year old. Naruto started to flail his arms around. "Mikoto-sama...I...can't...breath!"

"Oh sorry Naruto-kun," Mikoto giggled. "I'm just happy one of my students passed!"

"Hehe thanks." Naruto then took a seat next to Itachi. The two were silent before speaking. "You know what I don't you?"

"Using _Harukaze Miyabi_ you dodged all his attacks without even needing to look. Since you made the dome of air around you small enough, you didn't expend so much chakra unlike the first and second test, where you constantly kept using it to watch out for opponents. However, there was a second reason for using that move. You used the air in the dome to move along you with each of your attacks," Itachi whispered, making sure it was not loud enough for anyone to hear. "The first stance interrupts their attacks, with the wind it would be able to cut through even the metal weapons to destroy it. The second stance breaks their balance, making it easier to attack them, with the wind it is easier to do so. Then the third stance breaks their stance, either forcing them to retreat or attack you in turn. The wind is used to empower your movements." Itachi closed his eyes before sighing. "The thing is...I couldn't really tell what happened in that last attack. I just saw you thrust forward and the wind but that is it. I'm surprised though, even with shoddy Fuuton Chakra control, you were able to do that much."

"Mah, that is scary. After seeing it only once, you knew all that already," Naruto smiled. "I guess it comes from being my partner no?"

**~On the battle field~**

A was near the far wall sitting on a chair, behind him was B. He had his fingers intertwined as he looked at the paramedics taking Ura away. He then looked towards where Naruto was sitting. His eyes were narrowed as he thought about what Ura said.

'_**So I'm against the mini-Yondaime Hokage huh?...You got any relationship to him?'**__'That is what that Iwa ninja said,'_ A thought to himself. _'Now that I think about it, he has the Uzumaki last name yet he has the looks of Minato Namikaze.' _The Raikage made a hand motion and a Kumo ANBU member appeared. "Dig up any information you can on Naruto Uzumaki. I need to know exactly who that kid is."

"Hai Raikage-sama," the ANBU replied before shunshin-ing away. The Raikage then nodded his head towards Sawate, who nodded back.

"Okay the next pair for the next match will be decided now!" Sawate cheerfully announced. She pressed the button and the names flashed once again before stopping. "Okay the next match is Itachi Uchiha against Yugao Uzuki!"

**~With Team Nine~**

Yugao gasped, while Itachi frowned and Naruto cursed under his breath. Mikoto looked at her team, and felt sad. Itachi stood up from the bench and past the wall protecting them from the battlefield. "I'm heading out. Yugao-senpai, I'll meet you one the battlefield," Itachi said before standing on center stage.

"M-Mikoto-sensei, what do I do?" Yugao asked confused by the situation. "I'm not sure I want to fight Itachi..."

"I can't really what to do Yugao-chan," Mikoto replied.

"You should go up there and do what you can," Naruto replied. Both females looked at Naruto.

"N-Naruto?" Yugao asked.

"Just go there and do your best. Whether or not you win, shouldn't matter. Remember you made it past two exams of the Chunin exams as a rookie. Whether or not you had help shouldn't matter either. As long as you go up there and do the best you can is all that matters." Yugao looked at him for a moment, before nodding.

"You're right Naruto-san, I should just go out there and do my best. Itachi-san is waiting for me after all," the purple haired girl smiled and stood up. "Right, I'm heading out too." The purple haired girl then passed the wall towards where Itachi was. It was during this time Mikoto looked at Naruto.

"When did you get so insightful Naruto-kun?" Mikoto asked. Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Ehehehehe, Shisui-nii has been talking to me a lot. Giving me advice as well as some 'life lessons,'" Naruto replied using air quotes on life lessons. "To be honest all it was him giving me some talks and philosophy. He's a smart person you know? He's like my own big brother some times."

"I see. That's good to hear Naruto-kun," the Uchiha matron replied.

**~On the battlefield~**

Itachi almost smiled when Yugao met him in the center of the battlefield. "It's good to see you didn't run senpai." He uncrossed his arms.

"I shouldn't be scared of facing my teammates, and I should give my all in everything I do. So come at me with all you got Itachi."

"Interesting, let us begin shall we?" He then looked at Sawate and nodded.

"Are both of you ready to fight?" the happy girl asked. Both kids nodded. "Then the second match begin!"

Both people stood stock still for a few seconds. They both seemed to tense and do nothing.

**~Team Iwa~**

"Man this is a boring fight," Irouh stated. "They're just standing there."

"You don't get it do you Irouh hn," Deidara hummed. "He is an Uchiha, I hear they are amazing with genjutsus. He must be using one on her right now. I wonder how it is like to face off against them. I heard they are some of the strongest in Konoha."

**~Team Darui~**

"That must be an interesting way to be someone isn't it Darui?" C asked as he watched. "An Uchiha using genjutsu to completely dominate a battle."

"From the looks of things, the girl is suffering in whatever is happening in the genjutsu," Yugito stated.

"I wonder what is happening in there?" Darui drawled out. "Although I have to say, we have to be careful. Those two boys, Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha, they are dangerous beyond what I expected." Suddenly Yugao dropped to a knee. "It seems like it is about to get real."

**~On the battlefield~**

"Stand up Yugao-senpai, no, Yugao," Itachi stated. "You won't win if a simple genjutsu like that would bring you to your knees." Yugao was on her knees, her hands on her head while tears streamed down her face.

"Th-That was terrible," Yugao stuttered. She then looked into his Sharingan eyes. "How can you show me something like that! How can you show me Hayate-kun dying over and over again!"

"You told me to come at you with my best. I did that," Itachi said with a stern voice. "If you can break just as easily. I do not think you are ready to be a chunin." All she did was look at him defiantly, causing him to sigh. Itachi then walked up to Yugao, stood her up, only to punch her in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. She fell to the floor before Itachi looked at Sawate. "Call the match. She won't be need to be taken to the infirmary either. She'll wake up in a bit." Sawate nodded and put her hand up.

"The winner of this match is Itachi Uchiha by knock out!" the proctor announced. Itachi sighed again before picking up Yugao bridal style.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to her as he took her to their place in the stands. When he got there, Mikoto gave him a disapproving look, while Naruto merely sighed.

"A little harsh there aren't you Itachi?" Naruto said.

"She told me to go at her with all I have. I what she asked for" Itachi replied. He then looked at his best friend. "If she asked you to do the same, you probably used the move you used on that Iwa ninja wouldn't you?" Naruto hung his head but nodded. "I was right." They both heard Mikoto gasp.

"You mean you would have willingly hurt your teammate?" Mikoto asked surprised at her son and Naruto.

"If she asked us to go at her full on, we wouldn't be holding back," Naruto stated.

"Because if we did, we wouldn't be respecting her wishes," Itachi continued. "It may seem cruel but I did what I had to do." He then looked at the unconscious girl. "I just hope she will forgive me for showing her the nightmare of losing her loved one."

**~Team Konoha ROOT~**

Standing a few meters away from team nine, was the other Konoha team standing with their sensei. The sensei was in a large raincoat, with the hood up so you couldn't see their face. Another one of the students was wearing exactly the same. The other two's looks, however, were visible. One had black hair and had a black mask covering everything from his nose up. The mask had white holes to allow him to see and the symbol of Konoha was on the middle of it. This person was wearing a long sleeve black coat over a form fitting black shirt. He was also wearing black ninja pants and sandals. Next to him was an orange haired boy with grey eyes. He had on a purple shirt and black shorts. His head band was around his forehead, and he had a sword on his back.

"Sensei," the orange haired boy started. "Do you think that is reportable to Danzo-sama?"

"Yes, the data on both Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha will be useful to Danzo-sama Fu Yamanaka," the sensei replied. "Torune, Tera, Fu. If any of you are matched up against them, I want you to quit understand me? Danzo-sama has explicitly ordered us to help them out if need be."

"Hai," the black haired one, Torune Aburame, answered. While Tera, the one with the hood on nodded his head. "Although it looks like they won't need our help. For seven year olds...they are strong. Far stronger than they should be."

"Must be because of their lineage," Fu replied. "An Uchiha and an Uzumaki. A strong pair of families working together. Geniuses from what I heard as well."

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><p><strong>Author's End Note:<strong> Did you enjoy the chapter? Leave a review if you did or if you didn't! Also the moves Naruto used in his fight come from a Korean Manhwa (their manga) called **God of Highschool**. Go check it out.


	8. Samples

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, he is owned by Kishimoto-sensei.**

**Author's Note: **Sup, thanks for all the likes, reviews...etc. Again, I would have personally PM-ed you if I thought your comment needed a direct response. Also...ugh I don't think this is beta-ed that well so please just try to enjoy the chapter as much as you can.

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><p>"Now the third match of the preliminaries will begin!" Sawate shouted and pressed the button again. The names were flipping through them all over again, not staying on one name for more than a second. About half a minute later two names were chosen. "Would Torune Aburame and Tera please come forward."<p>

"I would like to forfeit the match," a voice said from nearby Team Nine. Everyone looked towards the direction of the voice and saw the hooded boy speaking. "My condition was worse than I thought, and I don't think I can fight right now." Next to him, Torune looked at Tera in confusion.

"What are you doing?" Torune whispered.

"Ensuring that one of us gets into the finals," Tera answered back. "So I would like to decline joining the match and giving my win to Torune." Everyone was looking at them funnily before turning away.

"Boo! That was two matches were we couldn't even see the fight! Where's the action! I call a redo!" Naruto shouted. He was then hit on the back of the head by Itachi.

"Naruto shut it," Itachi sighed. "If they decided to give up who are we to say no to that. Besides, the sooner this is over the sooner we can get to the third round."

"Oh..." Naruto stopped talking before shouting again. "Hey happy lady hurry the hell up!"

"Okay then...Well, Torune has won his match due to forfeit!" Sawate announced, although far less enthusiastically than before. "Seeing as there was no match let us proceed to the next one. Round four!" Sawate pressed the button again and they speed through the names of all the present genin before stopping. "Will Fu Yamanaka and Jinko of Kumo please come center stage?"

This time Fu walked up to the field and met up with the Kumo ninja. Jinko was wearing only a black shirt, with green shorts and a kumo headband on her forehead. Nothing really stood out from her at all. "So you are my opponent?" she asked. Fu didn't reply, save for turning to Sawate.

"Please start. I'd rather finish this now than later," Fu told her.

"I...um...okay. Let the fourth round begin!" Sawate shouted. Instantly Fu was doing hand seals just as Jinko was, however Jinko finished first.

"Ha take this Konoha punk! _Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder)!"_ From out of her hands, waves of electricity shot towards Fu. The orange haired genin jumped back several paces and stopped his hand seals. The lightning missed him by just a little bit, but that was all the time he needed for this match.

"_Shintenshin no Jutsu (Mind Body Switch Jutsu)!"_ A white beam of light shot out of Fu's hands and slammed into Jinko. The Konoha genin slumped forward, as did the Kumo genin. There was a tense few seconds before Jinko got up first.

"Since Fu is one the ground, I guess I'll start the ten count to see if he is eliminated! 1! 2! 3!" She stopped however when Jinko raised up her hand. "What is it Jinko?"

"I, Jinko of Kumo, hereby forfeit the match," Jinko said in a slow steady voice. The collective response was obvious.

**~In the stands~**

"The hell!" shouted one of Jinko's teammates. "You have the Konoha bastard right there! Finish him off!"

"What the heck is happening down there? Only a couple of seconds in and they already quit the match!" Irouh growled. "Is there something wrong with these Konoha and Kumo ninjas?"

"If you say so hn," hummed Deidara. "Although that family name seems rather familiar. Do you know what the Yamanaka Family is good at?"

"Not really."

"Me neither. That was why I was asking you." Over at Darui's team the team was speaking in hushed tones.

"Is that really Jinko-san?" C asked.

"It really is her," Yugito replied. "I can tell by the way she glared at me before going out."

"Then there's something wrong with her. She wouldn't give up this easily. She would have tried killing the boy off immediately, seeing how blood thirsty she was back in the academy."

"It's the other team that is doing this," Darui drawled out. "She is going up against a Yamanaka after all."

"What do you mean by that?" Yugito asked.

"Didn't you pay attention in class?"

"I wasn't in your class remember?"

"Oh yeah, you were admitted by the third Raikage as a straight up genin. Didn't tell us why, but we just accepted it," C said nodding his head. "You see the Yamanaka area special clan within Konoha. They have a distinct ability of entering someone else's body, by somehow sending their mind into it. Now it seems that this Fu fella has good control over the technique being able to shoot it out at that speed and at that range."

"So you mean that..."

"That's right. Fu is trying to make Jinko fail herself. Rather smart," Darui mumbled.

**~On the battlefield~**

"Are you sure you want to quit right now?" Sawate asked. "I mean I'm already doing the ten count."

"Yes. I would like to surrender right now," Jinko replied.

"Okay then... Fu Yamanaka wins by forfeit, so he advance to the next round." Jinko smiled before falling over. As she did, Fu stood up. "Oh, it seems you are awake. If you must know-"

"I won, thank you," Fu stated before leaving the arena. It took Jinko a few more seconds to get up and talk.

"Ugh...my head..." Jinko muttered. "What happened?"

"You surrendered, remember?" Sawate smiled at her.

"What!"

"You lost the match. I'm sorry but please go back to the sidelines."

"What are you talking about?" Jinko screamed.

"I just shot out a technique and then he hit me with his own technique. The match just barely started!"

"And it just finished. Sorry for your loss."

"But-" Jinko stopped talking with her head hung. She sent a glare over at the Konoha teams and walked back to her team.

**~Team Nine~**

"BOOO! I want a redo!" Naruto shouted from the stands again. Itachi sighed as he looked on at his blond friend and Mikoto was giggling at him.

"I thought you wanted to end this fast?" Itachi asked.

"But they were actually doing techniques! That ended too fast!" Naruto whined. "I want to see a fight! For the last three matches it was all nothing but standing!"

"You're so stupid sometimes Naruto."

"Aw...but I think he's so cute when he whines like that," Mikoto giggled.

"Mikoto-sama! I am not cute! I'm cool!" Naruto whined even more.

"Well, then I hope the next battle would be have some interesting techniques then."

"I do too!"

**~Battlefield~**

While Naruto was talking Sawate already started the roulette to choose the next two people for the fifth battle. When the names stopped she spoke. "Would Deidara of Iwa and Kiyoko of Kumo come to the stage?" Sawate asked happily. Everyone watched as the blond haired boy from Iwa walked up to the stage from where his team was and from the other side of the room came out another female. She had long black hair and had a purple kimono top with black hakama for clothing. Her headband was being used as a belt.

"I hope you make this interesting Iwa-san," Kikyo stated in a calm tone. "Plus I do not want to win in such and undignified way such as the previous three."

"Already thinking you won hn," Deidara asked putting his hands into a pair of small bags on his sides. He turned to the proctor and motioned for her to start it.

"Alright! The fifth round of the preliminaries are going to begin now!" Sawate shouted. Deidara jumped back just as a flurry of kunai and shuriken to land at his feet. He looked up and saw Kikyo was already doing some hand seals.

"_Raiton: Jibashi!"_ Just like the previous Kumo ninja, Kikyo sent out shots of lightning towards Deidara. The blond boy dodged as he moved away from the attack. Seeing as her attack didn't hit, she rushed towards him. Deidara ducked a punch, but took a kick to his chest. Deidara flew back and rolled a few times, causing Kikyo to smirk. "You're all talk boy." Deidara stood up and glared at her, but kept his hands in in the bags.

"Your punches don't hurt at all," Deidara replied. Deidara took out his right hand from the bag on that side and dropped something onto the floor. Various people in the stands noticed it but didn't comment on it. Kikyo, however, did not pay any attention to it. She ran forward again and started beating up the boy forgoing all jutsu, and Deidara just took the beating. Although, every so often Deidara would drop something onto the floor.

**~Team Darui~**

"Why is the boy just taking the attacks?" Yugito asked.

"I don't know," Darui sighed. "All I see him doing is taking hits."

"What do you think he is dropping onto the floor?" C asked.

"We'll find out soon."

**~Team Nine~**

"I'm not sure that boy can take much more of a beating," Naruto sighed.

"You bored with the fight already Naruto?" Itachi asked.

"No. I'm just saying he won't be able to take much more of a beating." The blond then looked at the white stuff that was left on the floor. "I'm actually interested to see what he's doing with all that white stuff." The two stopped talking when they heard a groan from behind him. Both boys looked at the bench they saw Yugao sitting up and holding her head.

"Ugh...what happened?" she asked. She looked up and saw Itachi looking a bit guilty and Naruto looking at the beat down on center stage.

"Itachi beat you Yugao-senpai," Naruto replied without. "Itachi don't you have something to say to her." Yugao looked confused until she remembered the battle and what he had said. She frowned at him as he sighed.

"Yugao-san," Itachi started. "I am sorry for what I did. I only did what I did to you because you asked me to." The purple haired girl nodded but still frowned at him. "I'm also sorry for saying that you are not ready to be chunin. If it were me, and someone said that to me during the chunin exams I would be mad too. I hope you can find it in you to forgive me. Not now, but someday." There were a tense few moments before Yugao sighed too.

"I'm not mad at you, really I'm not," the purple haired teen replied. "I'm just not happy at what you said to me. It hurt me, a lot. I don't think I can talk to you for a bit."

"I...understand." Naruto frowned at his two teammates and shook his head. They'll get over it, and he knew it, but it will take some time. He then turned his eyes back to the battle and raised his eyebrow. The blond managed to get away and was smiling.

**~Battlefield~**

Deidara smiled at Kikyo as he kept his hands out of both bags. "Have you lost your mind?" Kikyo demanded as she saw the bloodied boy.

"No. I'm just smiling at my victory," Deidara replied.

"Your victory? In case you haven't noticed that you have been getting beaten up."

"Really hn? All you have been doing is punching me and kicking me. You did not use any jutsu except the first one in the beginning. I, on the other hand, have been preparing my jutsu." Deidara put both hands in front of him and made the tiger seal. All around Kikyo the white gunk that were on the floor changed shape into various deformed spiders. They then jumped onto the girl causing her to scream for over fifty white spiders latched onto her.

"What are these things!" Kikyo screamed as she tried to take them off of her, however as hard as she tried the bugs stayed on. Deidara was laughing where he stood. The blond boy spit out some blood that had accumulated in his mouth and smirked at the girl.

"Those things as you called, Kumo-san, are my pieces of art," the Iwa ninja explained. A spider then jumped onto the palm of his hand and he held it up for her to see. "I'll give you a little demonstration." Deidara threw up the white spider in his hand and put his hands into the tiger seal again. "KATSU!" the spider in the air suddenly exploded. That made the eyes of all the other ninjas widen. Kikyo, was already trembling. The amount of spiders would not only kill her, but leave no remains. Deidara then smirked at her. "So do you surrender?" Kikyo opened her mouth to reply but found her throat was dry and no sound was coming. So she just nodded her head. "Eh? What was that? I couldn't hear you hn. Are you saying you want to see my art in action? Okay then." Kikyo then started to tremble as tears fell from her eyes.

"I...I...I surrender!" Kikyo shouted.

"Deidara of Iwa is the winner by forfeit!" Sawate shouted. "Please take off those spiders from the girl."

"Okay!" Suddenly Deidara put his fingers into the tiger seal again, shocking everyone. "Katsu!" People watched in terror as the spiders started to flow. Before anyone one else could react, Naruto was already on the field going through a few hand seals.

"_Raiton: Jibashi!_" Naruto exclaimed as electricity flew in arcs through his hands. He was next to the girl as the spiders were reacting and grabbed her shoulder. Sparks coursed through her body and the spiders, causing her to scream in minor pain. Not only did Naruto do that, but he used his other arm to shoot lightning around them as well, hitting several of the spiders on the floor. After the show, Deidara frowned, not sure why his spiders did not explode. After taking his hands off the girl who looked down at him with terrified and wide eyes, Naruto frowned. "Someone bring a medic and take her out of here! Get these damned spiders off of her too!" The medic ninjas rushed in and grabbed her before taking her off of the field. The blond sent her an apologetic look for shocking her, before he turned to his fellow blond. "Why did you try to blow her up?"

"The proctor told me to take off the spiders. She never said how to take them off," Deidara replied.

"You're a dick you know that. You already won and yet you tried to kill her." The Iwa ninja laughed with a shrug and turned to go back to his teammate before Naruto spoke. "You better hope we don't meet in the third round, or I'll beat you down so hard, your head will fall off."

"Why do you care so much anyway? She's a ninja from Kumo, you're not."

"It doesn't matter if I'm from Kumo or not. You were going to do something bad, and I wanted to stop you."

"What type of rationality is that?"

"Mine." Deidara scoffed at Naruto and turned around.

"You're too naive to see that they are the enemy. I wouldn't mind fighting you in the third round, just to break that innocence of yours."

"You think I'm so naive huh? I'll prove to you how wrong you are in the next round...Deidara was it?" Naruto glared at the boy.

"Heh, I'll have fun wiping the floor with your face mini-Yondaime Hokage," Deidara smiled.

"Would you two blonds please leave the area. We have another fight to get ready," Sawate told both young boys. Naruto gave on last glare to Deidara and walked back to his team.

"I didn't know you knew some Raiton jutsu," Itachi muttered. "I've seen Hatake-teme doing some and tried to copy his work. Pulled off some of them, and figured that I can do Raiton jutsus as well as Fuuton."

"Interesting..."

"Just like I know you can pull off Suiton jutsu as well as Katon." That had Itachi glaring at Naruto. "Heh, think I didn't know that huh?"

"Naruto-kun, I think you should stop making enemies out of everyone you speak to," Mikoto scolded the blond.

"But Mikoto-sama! He was a dick!"

"That still doesn't give you the right to make another enemy out of him."

"Hai Mikoto-sama."

**~Battlefield~**

A was sitting in the background and took into consideration what the blond did. "He's pretty cool don't you think bro?" B asked as he stood next to the Raikage. "He saved the girl even though she was from Kumo."

"I know," A replied. "He reminds me a lot of another blond from Konoha."

"You talking about the Fourth?"

"Yes. Remember how he told me to take care of you. It showed that he was willing to help out people from other countries and villages other than his own. It seems like his mini-me is the same too." This caused Killer B to nod and both quieted down as Sawate began to speak again.

"The sixth round of the preliminaries is between Kagami of Kumo and Irouh of Iwa! Please come to the stage!" Irouh walked up and someone from Kumo appeared as well. He was wearing a white Gi with black hakama. Yellow hair was spiked out in several places. In his hand was a long blade just like Irouh had. "Are you two ready to battle?" Both ninjas silently nodded their heads. "Then begin!"

Both ninjas drew their swords and clashed in the middle of the field. Both were furiously slashing at each other. The sound of metal hitting metal was heard. Everyone just watched in interest as both combatants fought each other. Irouh blocked an attack from Kagami, and punched the boy across his right cheek using his left fist. This was the first clean hit in the entire match and caused Kagami to move back. Both stood silently watching each other before rushing forward. Irouh went for a forward stab and Kagami jumped out of the way of the attack. Just as his opponent moved, Irouh changed his attack into a slashing motion nicking the yellow haired boy. Kagami stopped and touched his chest and saw that tiny droplets of blood were spilling out. He then looked at Irouh and ran forward, in a stabbing motion. The Iwa ninja went to parry the attack upward, but was surprised to see Kagami twist at the last second and turn the stab into a slash, catching Irouh across the chest.

"I see, you're just mimicking my attacks aren't you?" Irouh muttered. The black haired teen sighed. He then looked at the teen looking back at him. "Let's see you copy this then." Irouh held the blade in his left hand and grabbing the hilt with his right. The blade started to glow yellow and Irouh placed the tip of the blade to the ground in front of him. Kagami looked confused but was already moving towards Irouh to stop the attack. The Iwa ninja smirked as his opponent approached him. "_Koutei no Ryuu: Funka Kiri (Emperor Style: Erupting Slash)" _Irouh, slashed upward sending a wave of rocks and energy forward. It was so fast that Kagami wasn't able to react in time. As the attack hit, Kagami was encased in the rock and a spray of blood erupted from his back. Then a golden circle appeared behind him. Irouh sheathed his blade, then let his arm forward with an open palm and the same faint yellow glowing appeared on it. _"Koutei no Ryuu: Funka Hirate (Emperor Style: Erupting Palm)." _Irouh dashed forward and placed his palm onto Kagami's trapped form. In that instant, the glowing circle behind Kagami and the glow palm seemed to connect to one another. When they did, the rocks encasing Kagami were blown away and a burst of yellow chakra flew out of Kagami. This caused the Kumo ninja to fall to the ground unconscious and bloody.

"Kagami is unable to battle, Irouh advances to the next round!" Sawate exclaimed as the medic ninjas took Kagami away to heal him. Irouh walked back toward Deidara, but not before looking at Naruto who was looking at him with narrowed eyes.

**~Team Nine~**

"What's wrong Naruto?" Yugao asked as she saw her blond teammate frowning.

"That move he did. It's in the same book I found the four stances in," Naruto replied with a frown. "It's an Uzumaki clan sword technique."

"Then how does he know it then?" Itachi asked.

"It seems like there's an Uzumaki scroll in Iwa. I think I should try to go get it back one day."

**~Battlefield~**

"The seventh round of the preliminaries is between Darui of Kumo and Bake of Kumo!" Sawate exclaimed. Darui stepped forward and looked indifferently at his opponent. No one could see what his opponent looked like as he was covered from head to toe in a large white cloth, looking like ghost, making everyone sweat drop. Even Sawate seemed weirded out by this person

"I am a ghost! FEAR ME!" Bake shouted.

"Why do I always get the weird ones..." Darui sighed. "Can we just start this, I don't think we'll like how this battle will go." Sawate slowly nodded her head.

"Right...The seventh round begin!" Sawate announced. In a flash several beams of light slammed into Bake and he was knocked out. Darui turned around and left the battlefield. This had everyone confused at just what had happened. "Uh...Bake is unable to battle. The winner is Darui."

**~Team Nine~**

"What the hell just happened!" Naruto asked. He blinked and missed the move. Hell he didn't even here Darui say the attack name. "How can I go up against someone I couldn't study?" The blond then looked at Itachi. "Did you get what he did?"

"I only got the hand seals. They were tiger, dog, snake and dragon in that order," Itachi informed Naruto. "I've never seen anything like that before."

"Maybe it was a kekkei genkai, just like Itachi's?" Yugao suggested. That caused both Naruto and Itachi to nod.

"That could be possible," Naruto answered her. "Although I wouldn't mind trying it out. It seemed pretty cool."

"Naruto, what is the chance of you having the same kekkei genkai as that boy?" Itachi sighed.

"One in a billion, but who knows, I might have it." This caused both Itachi and Yugao to sigh and shake their heads.

**~Battlefield~**

"The eight round is between C and...another Bake?" Sawate said unsurely, as another boy in a white sheet. This caused every to face fault. Even the most dignified people face faulted at the person.

"I am Bake the second! Fear me!" Bake the second shouted. C sighed.

"Okay then. This is going to be annoying," C muttered. "Let's just start this already." Sawate nodded told them to start the fight. In that moment C just punched Bake hard enough to knock him out. Everyone sighed at how easy the person went down. "How did these weaklings get into the third round?" C asked Sawate.

"They stole a key during the second round when two groups were fighting," Sawate answered. "So technically, even though they didn't fight they were able to make it to the preliminaries." She then looked at the last person from the group. It was yet another person under a white sheet, then looked at Yugito, and then looked back at the third person. "Are you sure you want to fight?"

"I am Bake the third! Fear me!" Bake the third shouted. "Although I decline. I must tend to my brothers in need!" Bake then let the room to talk to his brothers.

"Well, I guess that makes Yugito Nii of Kumo winner of the last match of the preliminaries," Sawate exclaimed. "Now that all the battles are over, will all the winners please come forward." All nine winners stood by each other looking at Sawate. The proctor brought up a box with a hole on top. "Now will you please reach in and grab a number. This will set up the matches in the final round." So one by one each person grabbed a piece of paper and showed it. A chunin in the back ground had a white board and wrote down the names for each fight.

Round 1: Itachi Uchiha vs C

Round 2: Yugito vs Fu

Round 3: Darui vs Torune

Round 4: Naruto vs Deidara

Round 5: Winner of Rond 4 vs Irouh

"These will be the matches," Sawate told them. "Now, we will meet back in a month for the third round back here in Kumo. Please use this time to train yourself and to show your skills to the people who would be watching." Sawate stopped talking as A stood in front of them.

"Now I'll have you know that all of you, all nine of you, are able to be Chunin at this point," A stated. He held up his hand when he saw several people were about to speak in protest. "Now I know, you are asking why are we going to go through another test if we can all be chunin at the moment. There is a reason. We Kages, yes the Tsuchikage and the Hokage are going to come, are going to watch the matches. We will deliberate to see who are above the rest of you. To see who are the cream of the crop as to say. Again, use this month to train yourself to prove yourself. Now you are dismissed to return to your villages to train." Everyone bowed and left the room followed their senseis back to the hotel they were staying at. As they walked, team nine was silent, thinking over what they had occurred.

"So Naruto-kun, what are you going to do to train this month?" Mikoto asked, breaking the silence as the group entered their room. Since it was the afternoon, they would just pack up and leave the next day. Naruto stayed silent thinking of what he would do before answering.

"Just master what I already know," Naruto answered. "I'm still lacking in most of my techniques. You Itachi?"

"Learn a few new things to prepare for the fights," Itachi replied with a calm tone. He then stared Naruto directly in the eye. "Make it to the finals Naruto. I want to prove to the world just who is stronger, you or I."

"Heh, yeah. Finally settle the score on who is truly the better of the two of us." Naruto stretched his arms before walking towards the door.

"Where are you going Naruto?" Yugao asked.

"Well, I'm going to see a certain ninja about a bet that he owes me. After that, I'll use the money I got from that Iwa owes me from a bet to get some ramen, like I promised that one ramen vendor." Naruto bade them farewell and left the room.

**~Kumo Council Room~**

"The boy has made it to the third round," a Kumo council member stated. "Councilor Han, what do you have to say for yourself. None of the ninjas you sent have been able beat the blond brat."

"It is not my fault the ANBU failed and it is also not my fault that other Kumo genin could not even find that brat and his group," Han told them, wiping the sweat off his brow. He was not liking how the other council members were coming down on him like hawks. It wasn't his fault that the ninjas that worked for him weren't as good as they said they were. "W-We will get the boy just watch. I'll personally see that the Kumo genin in the third round will get scrolls that will help them stop the boy from reaching the finals."

"You better Han or it is your head."

**~With A and Killer B~**

"So all the rookies made it into the third round," A sighed.

"Who would have thought all dem rookies would be so cool," B started to rap and dance "Now, I bet the council thinks their a bunch of old fools, oh yeah!"

"Heh I agree with you there B. Those council members are probably trying to think of a way to stop that blond brat from getting what he wants." A chuckled and shook his head. He swiveled his chair around to look out the window. He watched over the city and saw Naruto in the near by ramen standing, eating his favorite food. A smirked when he saw the boy. "The battles in the upcoming months are going to be intense. Nothing like those samples we saw today B. I wonder if anyone other than myself think that a few people are already to be chunin."

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><p><strong>Author's End Note:<strong> I swear to you guys I will have longer fights during the actual third round. It was just hard thinking up of random characters for the originaly set characters to fight. So leave me a review of what I did right or wrong.


	9. Speaking to the Family

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Author's Notes: **Thanks again for everything guys. Like always, if I thought your review requires a response I will PM you with one. Sadly (for me, good thing for you guys), my brother started writing again. So I have no beta. I'm looking for one who is willing to look over new chapters for me if they have free time. Message me if you can. So here's the new chapter!

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><p>It had taken them half a week to reach Konoha since only Team Nine and the team sent by Danzo were the only ones left in the tournament. During that time Yugao had forgiven Itachi but they still had a little to fix in the relationship they had. It was also during that time Naruto decided to talk to the other Konoha participants. Oddly enough, they were quiet and didn't speak much. So when they arrived at back in Konoha, they were all instructed to meet with the Hokage and report. So that is where they found themselves now. They were all in the Hokage's office standing in front of him. Minato was smiling at them from behind his desk.<p>

"I would like to congratulate your teams to making it to this third round," Minato told them with a smile. He then looked at Fu, Torune, Itachi and Naruto. "I would also like to wish you four luck in the upcoming battles. Now, I would like all of the genin to go and relax or train, while I talk to your senseis." The genin nodded and turned to leave. As they reached the door Minato spoke again, "Uzumaki-san, please wait outside. I would like to speak to you afterwards." The younger blond looked at him.

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Naruto replied. Naruto exited the room with his team behind him. After they closed the door he turned to Yugao and Itachi. "I'll meet up with you guys later, apparently the Hokage wants to speak to me." Itachi and Yugao nodded, then bid him farewell. Naruto walked over to a chair on the opposite wall and sat down. The boy sat there for about ten minutes before Mikoto opened the door and left the room with the other Jounin sensei. Mikoto gave him a smile before leaving. He waited another minute or two before the secretary let him into the office again. Minato was looking at him as he entered. "You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?"

"How are you doing Naruto?" Minato asked with a small smile.

"I could always be better. How about you Hokage-sama?"

"I'm fine as well. My family is happy and content."

"That is good to hear." Naruto crossed his arms and frowned. "Is there a reason I was called to be here Hokage-sama?" Minato sighed as he looked at the boy in front of him.

"Do you want to be part of our family again?" That made the little boy drop his jaw.

"Wh-what?"

"Do you want to be part of our family again?" Naruto was about to agree but stopped.

"What do I have to do in order to be part of the family?" he asked Minato.

"Quit being a ninja," Minato replied.

"Quit being a ninja?"

"Yes, if you quit being a ninja I will allow you to be part of our family again." The Hokage was waiting for the answer, hoping that the boy would agree in order for the second prophecy to not come true.

"Sorry, but I respectfully decline," Naruto answered. "As much as I would love to be part of that family again, I don't want to give up being a ninja. I like what I am doing and I'm going to keep it that way. I also have some big goals and I need to be a ninja to do them. Will that be all Hokage-sama?"

"Yes you are dismissed." Naruto bowed and then left the room, heading towards his home. As the boy left Minato frowned. He had hoped that the boy would accept. Kami knows that he knew he would have loved to be part of the family that he was ejected out of if it were him. He just didn't understand what Naruto was thinking by declining. Sure they boy said he had goals, but Minato was a bit worried about what those goals would be. This caused Minato to frown, this was propelling the second prophecy.

**~With Naruto~**

The little blond boy was walking home with a frown on his face. The fact that his former father would offer him a way back into his old family was interesting, but the price he would have to pay was too big. If Naruto wanted to be the Hokage, he had to be a ninja and he couldn't give that up. He was so lost in thought that when he finally did snap out of his thoughts, he was already in front of the Senju household. Opening the door and taking off his sandals he exclaimed, "I'm home!"

"Ah Naruto-kun! Welcome home," Shizune greeted him as she came from out of the kitchen. She walked over to him and gave him a hug. "How'd the exams go Naruto-kun?"

"I'll tell you when everyone else is here. I don't want to repeat myself Shizune-nee."

"That's a good thing they're here then. Jiraiya-sama and Sarutobi-sama are in the kitchen catching up with Tsunade."

"Oh, okay then. Let's go greet them." The duo walked into the kitchen were the two remaining loyal Sannin and their teacher were all speaking to each other with a bowl of rice and some fish in front of them. "Hey guys! How are you doing?"

"Brat! You're back!" Tsunade greeted him with a hug.

"Naruto, I heard that you made it to the second part of the exam but then no news after that," Jiraiya stated as he took a drink of sake from his saucer. "You going to tell us what happened?"

"Of course ero-sensei!" the blond smirked. Naruto then turned to the former Hokage and bowed. "How are you ojii-san?'

"I'm doing fine Naruto-kun," Sarutobi replied. "So how did your exam go?"

"It went pretty good. We passed the second part, a survival battle royale, within four hours of its start, being the first team to finish. Then we had to do some preliminaries. One on one fights."

"Who'd you fight brat?" Tsunade asked as Naruto sat at the table. Shizune sat next to him serving him some food.

"An Iwa ninja, who called me the mini-Yondaime Hokage," Naruto sighed. "I think that had people starting to question who I am."

"I see…" Sarutobi mumbled. "Will this affect you in anyway?"

"Nah, it's okay. If they find out that I'm the former child of the Yondaime Hokage, it doesn't change anything. I'm still going to aim for my goals and ascend to greatness."

"You won't ascend to greatness if you don't do your best," Jiraiya told him. "Although, you never told us if you beat that Iwa ninja."

"Oh, yeah it was a beat down. He couldn't even stand up after our battle, although it was mostly my fault that he couldn't stand up. That move I did hurt his lungs and other organs, so of course he would get hurt. I just didn't think my move would do that much damage. So that puts me in the third round, against the Iwa ninja's teammates one right after the other if I win."

"That's great Naruto-kun!" Shizune exclaimed giving him another hug. When she let go of him he was looking at her with a confused expression.

"You're rather huggy today Shizune-nee. Did you get a boyfriend while I was gone and now sharing the love by hugging people?" That had the teen girl blushing.

"Wh-what? I didn't get a b-boyfriend. Can't I just hug my little brother when he comes home from a big event?"

"You can but you're being all affectionate all of a sudden." Naruto then turned towards the rest of the group. "Did she get a boyfriend? I mean I keep telling her to get one and now she's all huggy." That had the adults laughing at Shizune.

"Well, if you must know kid. We think Shizune here has a crush on y-OOF" Jiraiya spoke, but was stopped when Tsunade elbowed him.

"What the pervert here was trying to say was that we suspect that Shizune has a crush on someone. We're not saying who yet since we are not sure but we'll let you know when we do," Tsunade told him before smiling at Shizune. The teen glared at her master, but was still red in the cheeks. Another round of laughs occurred.

"Naruto-kun, I hope you to train hard during the following month. You're going to be facing tough challenges in the following round," Sarutobi advise the young boy.

"I know that ojii-san, I mean if I want to beat Itachi in the finals I need to train hard since he is going to be training hard too," Naruto replied. "That reminds me is Asuma-san still here? I need to ask him to help me finish my fuuton chakra training."

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but he has already left to join the Twelve Guards."

"Ah, it's okay then. I just want to have help cutting that waterfall in half is all, a few pointers is all I need." Naruto then went quiet thinking hard about what else he needs to learn during the following month. "Hey ojii-san, can you help me out with a few Raiton jutsu?"

"Why do you need to know a few Raiton jutsu?"

"Because I only know one right now. I need to expand my list of jutsus just a bit. Knowing Itachi, he's going to train in using more Suiton jutsus. Plus it wouldn't hurt to know more Raiton jutsus against an Iwa ninja."

"That is true. How about I train you one hour a day until the day of the exams?"

"Why only one hour?" the blond boy asked with a frown.

"I still have to work Naruto-kun."

"Oh yeah, you should retire from handing out missions. You're not getting any younger." That caused Jiraiya to cough in order to cover up a laugh.

"I know that. So do you agree with me training you for an hour." Naruto nodded. "Good, what else do you think you are going to do for training."

"I'm going to ask Yugao-senpai's boyfriend to teach me the basics of kenjutsu and after that just master everything I already know. My moves are still pretty unrefined, so I need to master them completely before the finals."

"I see," the former Hokage nodded. After that the rest of lunch went smoothly, with some joking around by Jiraiya and Naruto and small talk between everyone. When lunch was over, Sarutobi bade them farewell. Shizune set out to finish cleaning the kitchen and Tsunade went to the hospital to check up on some patients. That left Jiraiya and Naruto. The perverted toad sage had ushered Naruto to the backyard and sat him down on the bench.

"Naruto I need to talk to you," Jiraiya began to speak as he sat down next to his godson.

"What about ero-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"It's something important." The sage took a deep breath before continuing. "I found out the reason why Minato took you out of his family. He told me a few days ago." Now that had Naruto looking at the pervert, especially with the conversation that he had with the Hokage before coming home.

"Really? What's the reason he had me disowned?"

"A prophecy."

"A prophecy?"

"Yes a prophecy. One that concerns you. Apparently from what the toad sages said to him, that one day in a few years you will go and somehow make Minato lose everything. The respect of the village, his family, his position of Hokage, everything." That made Naruto frown.

"And you double checked with the toad sages on this?"

"Yeah," Jiraiya sighed. "I visited the great toad sage himself, and he told me that he had gotten a second prophecy the day the girls were born and told Minato."

"You only found out about this recently?"

"Yeah. Apparently the old toad didn't think I needed to know it since it doesn't concern me."

"Is there anything else he said about disowning me, other than seeing me as a threat to him?" Jiraiya shook his head. That made Naruto's frown to deepen. "Well, he maybe have been my father at one point and he may be Hokage right now, but I have to say he's being rather stupid. I'm seven years old and I can see that is some pretty dumb reasoning."

"I totally agree with you. I ended up punching Minato across the face and called him out to be an idiot. He said that he won't regret his decision, that he knows that what he did is the right thing." Both males frowned at that. It would be a few minutes before someone would break the silence.

"Something is wrong here," Naruto started. "Something really wrong. Hokage-sama was hailed to be one of the smartest people in the world, and all of a sudden he's off doing this? Disowning me, his own flesh and blood. Acting too overly cautious due to some stupid prediction. Something is up."

"I agree," Jiraiya nodded. "Something happened in that small time span between the day of the girls' birth and the following day of the prophecy. Something must have happened to Minato during that small amount of time."

"How does that explain Ka-Kushina-sama?" Naruto cursed himself for slipping up. While he had no problem calling his father 'Hokage-sama', he still had a tendency to call Kushina 'Kaa-san' if he didn't catch himself, just like his littles shouts of "dattebayo.' Jiraiya smiled at his grandson when he heard the little slip. "She suddenly doesn't remember me."

"I think Minato has something to do with that. I heard he knows a seal that allows him to cover up, or even erase memories."

"So you're guessing that between the time of my sisters' birth and the following day, something had happened to Hokage-sama?" Jiraiya nodded when Naruto asked that. "I'm guessing your going to be looking into that then eh ero-sensei?"

"You got that right kid. So you won't be able to ask me for help during the following month. Also, I'm going to be heading out, checking up on my spy network."

"Got you, I already have a full plate anyway. I mean mastering what I already know will take up almost all my time, but I also intend to learn a few new things during that time."

"Like those Raiton jutsus and the basics of kenjutsu?"

"Yeah...and I need to experiment in a few new subjects. I found a few things in Kumo worth looking into, namely if I want to beat some of the ninjas they have." The seven year old stopped, remembering something. "I just noticed something."

"What?"

"During the prelims, the fighting order was rather weird. Every match had a whole team go one right after the other. For the first match of the prelims was me vs an Iwa ninja. Then it was Itachi vs Yugao-senpai. Then there was this group of Konoha ninja I didn't know who went right after us."

"Does that mean anything at all?"

"Not really, I just noticed it. Especially since during this next round it seems like it's happening again."

"How do you guess that?"

"The first three matches contain the only Kumo team left in each match. Then both of my matches will be against Iwa ninja's when I win the first match."

"That is peculiar," Jiraiya scratched his chin. "Does this worry you?"

"No. Again I'm just saying it was rather weird." He then stood up and stretched his legs. Naruto turned to Jiraiya and gave him a smile. "Well, if you don't mind, I'm going to take a nap. I'm sleepy."

"Go on then, take your nap," the perverted man motioned for him to go into the house. As Naruto reached the door, Jiraiya remembered something. "Naruto!"

"What is it ero-sensei?"

"Tsunade-hime is making me tell you this so you won't get surprised. Kushina came looking for you during the time you were gone." Bright blue eyes widened when they heard that. "She came wanting to know more about you, since you are an Uzumaki. She wants to meet with you several times a week, to get to know you better, if you are willing to that is."

"So she's not doing this because she remembers me?" Naruto frowned.

"No. So are you willing to meet up with her?" The blond closed his eyes for a moment, before nodding his head.

"I wouldn't mind. Even if it is under rather different circumstances, I'll still get to spend time with her, and I do miss her."

"Well, you're just a momma's boy huh?" That made the blond blush.

"Sh-Shut up ero-sensei!" Naruto shouted before going into the house and slamming the door, due to his embarrassment.

"Heh, no need to be worried kid. Everyone loves their mother." Jiraiya then stood up himself and stretched. "I might as well tell Kushina the good news. I wonder how those two will react to each other." The toad sage then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

**~With Itachi~**

Itachi and Mikoto had returned home and unpacked. After that, Itachi found himself standing in front of his father while his mother went to tend to his brother after not seeing him for a long time. His father, Fugaku Uchiha, had one a dark dark green kimono top and blue pants. His brown hair was combed over revealing his forehead and Konoha head band. He sat crossed legged across from Itachi. "So Itachi, I heard from your mother that you were able to win your fights easily," Fugaku spoke after taking a sip of tea.

"Hai, otou-san. Most of my battles and tests were rather easy," Itachi replied.

"I also you had to fight your own teammate, the Uzuki girl. You beat her using only a genjutsu correct?"

"Hai otou-san." Fugaku put down his cup and grinned at Itachi.

"That is good to hear my son. You are showing the world exactly what the Uchiha clan is capable of. I am proud of you for that. Keep on doing what you are doing."

"I will otou-san." Itachi then took a sip of his tea as Fugaku started to think of another question for his son.

"Now, Itachi I need to ask you something." The boy looked at his father and nodded. "Who do you think will be the biggest threat to you in these battles?" Putting down his cup, Itachi looked at his father with determined eyes.

"Naruto Uzumaki, he is the biggest threat to me." That made Fugaku raise an eyebrow.

"The disowned son of the Fourth Hokage and your best friend. You think he is the biggest threat to you in these matches?"

"Yes."

"What of the other participants?"

"While they may have commendable strengths and techniques, they will fall to my sharingan and skill."

"And Naruto will not?"

"He's is fat too good to lose. Just like I am," Itachi said with all the confidence in his voice. "We would not be known as the best in our generation within Konoha if it he weren't able to match me blow for blow and move for move."

"I have to agree there my son. That boy is strong, just like his father." Fugaku took another sip of tea. "Just do not underestimate your other opponents. If you want to fight Naruto in the finals as your mother told me, you have to beat your other opponents first."

"I know that otou-san. That is why I will go and train now."

"Very well. You may go." Itachi stood up and bowed to his father before leaving the room. He walked down the hall and opened a door to the right. He stepped in and smiled at the sight in front of him. It was a nursery with a crib and several stuffed toys inside. Sitting in the middle of the room was Mikoto, with a young Sasuke in her lap. She was tickling the boy. Itachi just stood by the door until his mother looked at him.

"It's alright to come in you know Itachi," Mikoto told him with a smile. Itachi nodded and entered the room. He walked over to where his mother was and took Sasuke from her hands. Holding his little brother close, Itachi smiled at him as Sasuke laughed (more like gurgled) as he rocked the baby back and forth. "You make a good brother you know that Itachi?"

"Hai okaa-san," Itachi replied as he held onto his brother. "Sasuke seems to be growing up nicely."

"It's thanks to your care and the care of the other people who help me out raising him." Itachi nodded, slowly giving Sasuke back to Mikoto. "So, Itachi what do you intend to do for training in this following month?"

"Mastering all my techniques, learning more Suiton jutsu and practicing my aim," he replied.

"Will that be all?"

"No. I will also be training in order to beat that one combination Naruto did."

"Huh?"

"His four stances attack, the one that left the Iwa ninja unable to stand up and coughing out blood. I intend to break it."

"Are you sure that he will use it again you?"

"Yes. Knowing Naruto, he and I will end up fighting all out in the finals the moment we get there. The chances of him doing that move are really high."

"How about the other people you will fight, that C person from Kumo and who ever wins the next round after that?"

"I will be prepare for anything that comes my way by the end of the month okaa-san. So please do not worry about me. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to find Shishui-nii."

"The last time I saw him, he was in the training ground near the forest," Mikoto informed him.

"Thank you okaa-san."

**~With Naruto the following day~**

Naruto had gotten up a little later that morning, giving himself some time to just rest up before actually getting into his training. That was why he was only eating breakfast right now at ten in the morning on a Monday. He had a bowl of ramen in front of him while everyone else was already doing missions or at the clinic just like Tsunade and Shizune. So when he heard a knock on the front door he was mildly surprised. Everyone at the house had keys, they even have spares at work if they work a desk job. Naruto frowned and grabbed his bowl of ramen and walked to the front door. He opened it was was slightly shocked to see Kushina standing there in front of him. She had a nervous smile on her face, and a baby stroller in front of her. "Hi there Uzumaki-san," Kushina greeted.

"You can call me Naruto Kushina-sama," Naruto answered as he ate slurped up some ramen. "What brings you here so early in the morning Kushina-sama?"

"I'm not sure if you heard from Tsunade or that pervert but…"

"You wanted to know more about me right?" The red haired woman nodded her head. Naruto moved back and motioned her to follow him into the house as he ate the ramen. "Would you like anything to eat or drink Kushina-sama?"

"I'm fine Naruto-kun," Kushina told him. He led her into the sparse living room and told her to stay for a moment while he put his bowl into the sink. He walked back and smiled at her while she played with her two daughters, his two sisters. "So how are you today Naruto-kun?"

"I'm doing fine."

"I heard from Jiraiya you got into the third round of the chunin exams. Congratulations." Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

"Thanks. I couldn't have done it without most of my team though."

"Don't be so modest Naruto-kun, you should be proud of your own accomplishment," Kushina told him with a big smile. Naruto couldn't help but blush in embarrassment. Sure she was his mother, but since he hasn't heard anything like that from her in over two years.

"Th-Thank you Kushina-sama." She smiled at him again and looked to her daughters. Naruto followed her eyes to the twins and smiled at them. "Hi there Tsubaki-chan, Yuri-chan. I'm Naruto Uzumaki." The red haired baby, Tsubaki, looked up at Naruto and reached out for him making noises as she did.

"I think she wants to be held by you Naruto-kun," Kushina told him. The red haired mother took Tsubaki and gently placed her in Naruto's arm. With the utmost care, Naruto placed her on in his arms. The babies grey eyes met with his and she laughed as he smiled.

"Heh, aren't you just the cutest little thing." The blond tickled the baby girl, causing her to laugh even more.

"I think she likes you."

"I think so too." Naruto then turned to Kushina who was looking at them. "So, Kushina-sama, what do you want to know about me?"

"Well, Tsunade gave me some of the basics about you. You like ramen, and I can tell seeing as that was what you were eating this morning." She giggled as Naruto smirked, knowing that was the truth. "She also told me that your birthday is on October the tenth. Making you have the same birthday as these two little girls."

"Heh, I know. It's on the same day the Kyuubi was defeated by both you and Hokage-sama."

"Tsunade also told me that you're a genius in almost everything you do."

"She's exaggerating there. I'm not great at genjutsu, and I tend to burn stuff I cook. So I'm not a genius at everything Kushina-sama."

"She also told me you're afraid of the dark," Kushina teased him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Whoa! Back up now. Did you just say that Tsunade-chan said I was afraid of the dark?" Kushina nodded and Naruto grimaced. "That's it, she's been called baa-chan again."

"So you are afraid of the dark?" Kushina giggled.

"I am not afraid of the dark!" Naruto shouted, but not loud enough to scare the two babies. Yuri, who was in Kushina's lap, was laughing at her fellow blond's misfortune while Tsubaki looked a little concerned. Although it would be hard to tell since they were only two years old. In a quiet voice Naruto continued to speak, "I'm not afraid of the dark Kushina-sama. I'm afraid of…" his voice seemed to die at the last word.

"Can you please repeat that Naruto-kun. I didn't catch that."

"I said I was afraid of…"

"Huh?"

"I'm afraid of ghosts!" the blond exclaimed as his face turned as red as Kushina's hair. The wife of the Hokage started to laugh at him, although all in good nature. "It's not funny Kushina-sama! I mean you can't explain what they are! They're not scientific at all, heck you can't even explain them with jutsus!" That caused Kushina to laugh even more. "Aw, come on…"

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," Kushina said in between giggles. "But that was just funny, and you looked so cute when you were explaining why you are afraid of them." That cause Naruto to frown. "So I also heard that your best friend is Mikoto's son, Itachi."

"Your friend's with Mikoto-sama?" Naruto asked. Of course he knew, Mikoto use to visit them when he was still part of the family along with Itachi, hence their friendship.

"Yeah. We were friends back then when we were kids. She helped me beat up the kids who made fun of me and my chubbiness when I was younger from time to time." That caused Naruto to sweat drop. From that point on, it was just Naruto and Kushina speaking to each other and enjoying their time together. While for Naruto it was a chance to reconnect with his mother even if she didn't know it, for Kushina he was a link to her destroyed home country. So they spoke for about two hours, before Naruto said he had to train. As she was about to leave she decided to offer him something. "Hey Naruto-kun."

"Yes Kushina-sama?"

"How would you like for me to teach you fuuinjutsu? I mean I was able to teach my husband most of what he knows." Naruto smiled and shook his head.

"Sorry, my plate is already full with my regimen."

"Oh, I see," Kushina muttered. For some reason she seemed disappointed at him saying that he couldn't accept her help. That made Naruto wince.

"Although, you can help me with something." That made Kushina perk up. "I have this scroll, for the Uzumaki sword style."

"You mean you have a scroll for the Emperor's Style?" Kushina asked in awe. "You're lucky to have that. I lost mine years ago."

'_Because you gave it to me Kaa-san,' _Naruto thought to himself. "I'm also fighting someone who knows this style in the next round. Whether or not he really is an Uzumaki or just using it due to Iwa gaining their hands on it, I'm going to need help learning some of it as well as know how to fight against it."

"I don't really know if I can help you there Naruto-kun," Kushina told him. "I wasn't a sword master."

"I don't need you to be. I have someone else teaching me how to use a sword. I just need your advice and see if I can get the right amount of chakra into the moves." Kushina smiled and nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Okay, I'll help you. Just make sure you show everyone what an Uzumaki can do."

"Alright Kushina-sama. I will." Before Kushina left, she gave the blond boy a hug, surprising him. He hugged her back and she bid him farewell along with her kids. When she was out of hearing range Naruto sighed. "Man, now I just added another thing into my schedule. I wonder what Itachi is going to do?"

**~With Itachi~**

Itachi was looking at a paper on his desk. It had his schedule of how he was going to train. Not by hours, not yet, he just decided what he was going to do. The things on the list were: kenjutsu training, Suiton training, genjutsu training, precision training, hand to hand training and the last thing on the list was labeled "Beating Naruto's Technique."

"Let's see just how far we go, Naruto," Itachi whispered to himself before leaving his room to start training.

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> So there was the chapter. Tell me what you think, and leave a review. Just so you know, I like reviews a lot.


	10. Day

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for the reviews and all the other good stuff that I got last chapter. Again, if I thought that your review deserved a reply, I had sent out a PM to you. Sadly, I still need a beta, so the chapter still has some problems. But I hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>It had already been a week since their return from the chuunin exams, and to prepare for the next stage. Naruto was in his backyard, panting as he tried to catch his breath. Even though he had a lot of chakra for a seven year old, he would run out after using a lot of jutsus. Hence the little break he was having right now. Sitting on the bench behind him was Sarutobi nodding his head as he saw the damage Naruto had put out using various Raiton moves. Also, it was not his main affinity, making it all the more harder for him to utilized. "I need to do it again," Naruto panted. "I need to get that move down."<p>

"Naruto-kun do not over exert yourself," Sarutobi said from the bench, worry was in his voice. "You'll force yourself into chakra exhaustion if you try to keep using Raiton: Gaien (Lightning Release: False Darkness) continuously like that." The blond boy nodded and looked at the old man.

"I know that," he answered, "but I need to train as much as I can. I can rest on the last week." Naruto sat up straighter and grabbed the water bottle next to him. "If I'm right, Itachi is training as hard as I am, if not more." Naruto tried to take a step but suddenly lost his footing and fell on his face. "Okay...I might be more tired than I thought." This earned him a chuckle from the old man behind him. him a

"If anything it just means that you should take a break." Sarutobi then looked at his watch and stood up. "Alas, my time here is up Naruto-kun."

"It's been an hour already?" Naruto asked.

"It has been Naruto-kun." The old man walked over to him and patted him on the head before turning around to leave. "I suggest that you take a break before you go to your next training session. Maybe an hour break." Naruto nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea. I think I'll just lie here and look at the sky for a bit." Sarutobi smiled down at the boy as he laid on the grass. As turned to leave Naruto called out. "Hey jii-san," that caused Sarutobi to turn around and look at Naruto, "Do you know where Namikaze-sama came from?"

"Why do you ask Naruto-kun?"

"Just curious is all. Was he born here in Konoha?" Sarutobi looked confused by the question but shrugged it off as the boy's curiosity.

"To be honest Naruto-kun, he was a war orphan from the Second Ninja war. He was raised here in a Konoha orphanage and was then later taken in by Jiraiya as his pupil." Naruto was silent before nodding.

"Hmm, okay then. Thank you for answering jii-san."

"It was my pleasure Naruto-kun." The former Hokage was finally able to leave, and the boy was left to his thoughts. As he laid there staring at the sky, he had a frown on his face.

"That explains a bit then," Naruto said to himself as he stood up. Making sure no one was around. He decided to do a jutsu that he's been trying for the past few days. He had a made a Kage Bunshin ready to help him practice the move. (He was asked by Sarutobi how he managed to learn how to make a Kage Bunshin even though he was only seven, to which the blond replied that Jiraiya taught him.) His hands slowly did a sequence of seals that he'd been trying to be able to do faster. "Tiger, dog, snake, dragon." The Kage bunshin threw up five shuriken into the air and Naruto threw his hands out. From his hands a dull glow appeared, and from the glow shot out five beams of light that hit each of the shuriken. Naruto fell on his butt, from using more than enough chakra for that few hours. "No, that wasn't light…" Naruto mumbled to himself. "Lightning." Naruto looked at his hands as the electricity was dancing slowly, no not dancing, flowing in his hands.

He then sat up and smirked. _"Well, well, well. Seems like Minato Namikaze is not from Konoha originally. That doesn't really call for me to do anything just yet. Well, maybe talk to Darui-san when we get back to Kumo, I need to find out the name to that technique I just did."_ Naruto then stood up and jumped on his feet. "Might as well eat some food before heading off to meet Hayate. Wonder if I should have ramen again, but Baa-chan said to only have twice a week and I had on this morning…" Naruto contemplated as he entered the home he shared with Tsunade and Shizune. As he entered the building, he had failed to notice someone dropping down form the trees.

Jiraiya looked at his godson as he entered the house. He had said that he was going to check up on his spy network, which was true, but he decided to cut through Konoha from his journey near Kiri going onto Iwa. It was safe to say that he was surprised at what the blond boy did, seeing as he's never seen a move like that before. "He seems stronger than I originally anticipated," the sage said to himself. He then looked behind him to another figure who was watching him. "Wouldn't you agree sensei?" From behind him Sarutobi came out as well, looking towards the door Naruto walked through.

"He seems to be very strong Jiraiya-kun," Sarutobi smiled. "Although, he tends to forget that even he has limits. Over exerting himself by using so much chakra within an hour doesn't really show that he is ready to be chuunin."

"I see what you mean by that sensei," Jiraiya nodded, "but you forget, he's only a kid."

"A smart one." Jiraiya rolled his eyes.

"Yes, a smart kid, but a kid none the less. If anything, I'm guessing Naruto will know what he'll need to do in order to become chuunin when the time presents itself. Namely in the third round of the exams." The older man nodded and the two sat there quietly for a bit. "Don't you have some paperwork to get to sensei?"

"Ah...you just had to remind me Jiraiya-kun, Don't you have a spy network to get to?" Both men sighed, hating that they had to get to work. In a gust of wind they both disappeared.

(Time Skip)

Naruto now stood out in the fields swing a wakizashi, a medium sized single sided blade, over and over again. Next to him Itachi was doing the same thing. On the sidelines, Yugao and a pale looking boy with brown hair stared at them. "Um...Are you guys sure that it is a good idea to you know...train together right now?" Yugao asked, unsure if the two young boys knew what they were doing.

"It's not a bad idea," Naruto started."It's not like we'll learn anything different from each other just by hitting nothing in but air."

"Agreed," Itachi put in his two cents. "It's not like we'd be able to use knowledge of the basics against each other."

"It's when we go to train by ourselves that we would be able to use special moves."

"They are right Yugao," the boy next to her nodded his head. "This is only the basics, it's what most kenjutsu practitioners know, so there is no harm in both of them practicing together."

"If you say so Hayate-kun," Yugao blushed. From where the two boys were standing, Yugao heard snickers coming from them. She turned and glared at the two, which caused them to drop their swords and burst out laughing.

"Aw that's so cute!" Naruto exclaimed while holding his sides. "Yugao-senpai has a crush on Hayate-san!"

"We already knew that Naruto," Itachi laughed along side his friend. "It's just her expression is priceless." This caused the purple haired girl to open her mouth in shock and turn to her friend who was sitting beside her.

"Hayate-kun, I," Yugao stopped talking when she saw her crush smiling at her.

"So you like me Yugao?" Hayate gently asked. Yugao opened and closed her mouth a couple of times before just opting to nod her head. His smile widened and he pulled the girl into a hug causing her to blush. "That's great to hear. I like you too." Again Yugao seemed to be shocked by this whole thing and seemed to be mimicking a fish with her mouth once again opening and closing on it's own violation. When she stopped and opening her mouth, she closed it and fell to the ground. Hayate caught her on the way down. This caused both Naruto and Itachi to stop laughing and rush to their last teammate.

"Whoa, is she okay?" Naruto asked as he saw Hayate fanning Yugao.

"I think she fainted from shock...and embarrassment," Hayate chuckled. Both of the younger boys let out relieved sighs. "She got you scared there for a moment huh?"

"Yes she did, suddenly fainting like that," Itachi mumbled. "So she will be okay?"

"Yes." Hayate then took the girl and placed her underneath the shade of a tree. "Now, since she's asleep and not trying to flirt with me. I think we should get into some light sparring between you two. No, Naruto we won't be using real swords. I brought some shinai with me so you don't hurt yourself." The two boys nodded and grabbed the two wooden swords that were offered to them and walked to where they were practicing with their real blades. Hayate instructed them on what they did wrong as they clashed blades, leaving the purple haired girl asleep in the shade.

(Time skip)

In a training field, a rock was sliced around the edges a several times simultaneously by some invisible force. Long gashes were left on the rock where the slices were made. Then a bright blue light had begun to emanate from the stone. A few seconds later, a foot covered by blue chakra slammed into the rock causing it to burst and threw the person back. Naruto bounced on the floor with a thud and he let out a groan. "Ugh… that hurt a lot," Naruto grumbled. "Blowing up a rock in front of my face was not what I intended to do right after lunch."

"You put in too much chakra into your attack Naruto-kun. You need to cut down on how much you put," Kushina advised from the side. She was standing there watching the blond as he laid panting and groaning in pain. She had left her kids in the care of Tsunade as she went to train Naruto in the backyard. "If you didn't put too much force all that chakra into it the force of the attack would explode like that. Hopefully you'll get this down before you try it on a real person or else they'll die a rather bloody death, and you don't want that do you?"

"No…" Naruto got onto his hands and feet, then stood up. "I hope you don't mind I try it again right Kushina-sama?"

"It is okay Naruto-kun, just try to get the amount of chakra down a bit better."

"Right." The blond boy closed his eyes as he drew his wakizashi. Holding it in his right hand, he placed the blade onto his left and focused his chakra. A blue light encased the blade and Naruto opened his eyes. Looking at a log a fair distance away he pulled back his right arm and pointed the blade towards the log. "Koutei no Ryuu: Senten Tsuki _(Emperor's Style: Whirling Thrust)." _Around the blade several small blades made out of air began to spin around the wakizashi. Naruto then thrusted the blade and sent all the blades towards the log. Just like the rock, several long gashes appeared along the log and it began to glow blue. Putting his leg in front of him, Naruto focused chakra into it, giving it the same glow just like the log. "Koutei no Ryuu: Senten Keru _(Emperor's Style: Whirling Kick)!"_ Naruto ran toward the glow log and jumped up. He did a flying kick on the log. Just like what happened during the battle between Irouh and Kagami in the chuunin exams, the blue chakra that formed around Naruto's leg merged with the one around the log. In that instance the log blew up and shot Naruto backwards. Again, the blond boy let out a groan of pain.

Kushina walked over to him and helped him up shaking her head, but there was a smile on her face as she did so. She took him to the bench she was sitting on and inspected his wounds. He had splinters from the log's explosion and several cuts from the rock. "Here, let me patch you up a bit. I brought a first aid kit just in case this happened." She got a pair of tweezers and pulled out a splinter.

"Ow! Hey that hurts!"

"Oh stop being a baby. From the way you've been pushing yourself, I know that you've been through more than this." Naruto grumbled but let kept silent as she kept pulling out the splinters. He winced when she applied disinfectant on his wounds, but was still silent. After patching up she slapped him on the knee, eliciting a yell from him. "There you go all patched up."

"Thank you," Naruto said with a grateful smile.

"No problem. Although, you still keep putting too much chakra into the jutsu. Are you sure you'll have this move down by the end of the month?"

"Yeah don't worry about it. I got this in the bag."

"Well, with that bad chakra control I'm not so sure," Kushina teased. Naruto pouted, causing the red haired woman to laugh. Naruto rolled his eyes but smiled at the woman in front of him.

"I have better chakra control than that Kushina-sama. I just tend to ignore the voice in my head that says to be careful from time to time." The next thing he knew, Naruto felt a fist slam onto his head. "Hey what was that for?"

"That's for being careless. You should take more care of yourself Naruto-kun. It would be bad to make the people you care for sad if something happens to you."

"Heh, then I have nothing to worry about. I have someone watching my back. Although...he will be an opponent during the chuunin exams so that may be a bit of a problem. Damn, Itachi must be training hard right now."

"You must be great friends with Itachi huh?" Kushina asked with a smile. She took a seat next to Naruto as the blond adopted a far away look.

"Yeah, he's my brother in all but blood. To be honest ever since we were young we were hanging out together, whether it be training or just mindlessly doing nothing. Although running away from fangirls that seem rather insistent on getting us to date them."

"Is that why you were running away from that mob of girls this morning?" When Naruto nodded, Kushina bursted out laughing. "That was hilarious. I thought you were just training, or worse peaked on them in the hot springs."

"I'm not like Ero-sensei," the blond frowned. "Besides I'm only seven years old. Girls in their teens want me to date them. I think that makes them a ped...ped...pedophile. Yeah that was the word Ero-sensei taught me."

"You mean girls that old want to date you?" Kushina asked. In the back of her mind something that was telling her to keep those girls away from the boy. This caused her to frown. This wasn't the first time this happened to her, that her motherly instincts would act up around Naruto who would just say something and it clicked inside her. Oddly enough, the feeling of being motherly to him stayed longer than the previous times. She looked at the boy who was still talking. She was only half listening to him now, as she stared at him.

'_Why does being around Naruto make me want to smother him, like a mother would? Why does he look like Minato? Come to think of it, why does Minato keep avoiding the subject Naruto all together?'_ The frown on her face deepened at the thought of that. _'Why...why do I feel like something is wrong here?'_ Kushina was broken out of her thoughts as Naruto shook her shoulder.

"Kushina-sama, are you okay?" Kushina stared into his eyes and saw the concern in them. That look made her want to smile, but she couldn't fathom why. She couldn't understand why just seeing him brought out all these feelings. She opened her mouth and let out a sigh.

"Naruto-kun?"

"Yes Kushina-sama?"

"Who are you really?" That caused Naruto to balk up. His eyes widened when he saw her confused face. "Who are you?"

"Wh-what do you mean by that?" the boy stuttered.

"Who are you? Just who are you?" Kushina was turning hysterical. "Who are you? Why do I feel connected to you?" She stood up and started to pace. "Why do I feel like I need to mother you? Why do you keep bring up these emotions that someone would have of their child in me?"

"Kushina-sama please calm down, you're going mad."

"Don't tell me to calm down! I'm finally onto something. It's not the first time I have felt like this towards you! So tell me just who are you!" By this point, Kushina was crying. She was also shaking Naruto. For his part, Naruto was freaking out as well out of worry.

'_What is wrong with her? I don't know what to do! Think...what would Jiraiya do...grope her. NO! That is just wrong on several levels. What would Itachi? Lecture her or try to console her somehow. I can't do that while she's doing this. Okay last one, I hate to say it but what would Hokage-sama do...Knock her out._" In that instance Naruto did a chakra enhanced uppercut to Kushina's chin knocking her out cold. When her grip let go of him, Naruto immediately caught her and laid her on the grass. He then did the best thing he could think of next. "BAA-CHAN!"

(Time skip)

Kushina got up with a groan and slowly got up from the bed she was in. Clutching her head she looked around and saw that she was in Tsunade's bedroom. "I see that you're up," a voice stated. She looked up and saw Tsunade standing at the doorway. In her hand was a glass of water and a few pills. The medic walked over to the red haired lady and offered them to her. "Take these, they'll numb out the headache."

"Thanks," Kushina mumbled. She took the pills and drank them down with the water. She gave the glass back and looked at the Slug Sannin. "What happened?"

"That is a good question. What did happen to you?" Tsunade crossed her arms under her bust as she looked at her. "Naruto came running into the house shouting that something happened to you." She took a seat on the bed along side Kushina. "You had him worried. Freaking out like that in front of him. He was forced to knock you out."

"He did?"

"Yeah."

"Where is he right now?" the red haired woman asked.

"He had to go train right now. He wanted to stay and make sure you were okay, but I reminded him that if he wants to win the chuunin exams, he'd have to focus on training. I promised him to take care of you, and that he'll hurry on his way back from training by himself."

"What happened?"

"He said you started asking him something over and over again in hysterics and that you were crying. Do you remember what happened?"

"I can't barely remember it. I remember we were training and then I remember asking him something, something really important. I think I asked him…I asked him...Why can't I remember? Did he say what I asked?" The older woman nodded.

"He told me that you kept asking him, who was he?" In that moment Kushina's eyes widened.

"I remember that now. I had to ask him who he was, for a very important reason. I wanted to know why he felt like...like he was my own kid." Kushina stopped talking all of a sudden and grabbed her head. "AAGH! My head! My head!"

"Kushina! What's wrong?" Tsunade moved closer to her and grabbed a hold of her. Kushina began to thrash around and was still clutching her head.

"Something...Something is happening in my mind!" The more she tried to remember what they were talking about, the more she tried to remember the feelings she had for Naruto, the more something in her mind was making it harder for her to think about them. As if they were restricting her from actually recalling anything about him, or associate him with the word family. As Kushina was holding her head, Tsunade was already trying to administer some healing jutsus on her. But no matter what she tried she couldn't find anything wrong with the woman physically. After a few more frantic moments, Kushina fell onto the bed once again unconscious. Tsunade ran a diagnostic jutsu on her and tried to once again find what was wrong with her friend, but once again came up short.

"I can't tell what is wrong with her. This is bad," Tsunade whispered. "How can I help her if I don't know what to do?"

"Tsunade-hime what's wrong!" Jiraiya shouted as he burst through the door. Looking back one Sannin looked at the other. "I heard screaming and rushed over as fast as I could."

"Jiraiya what are you doing here? I thought you went to go check on your spy network."

"I was but I decided to cut through Konoha to go from Kirigakure to Iwagakure. I was about to leave after doing some re…" The old sage had to stop what he was saying when he saw her glaring at him. "Right, I was just cutting through here and when I was about to leave I heard someone screaming in here." He looked at the bed and saw Kushina crumpled on it. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know. She was acting crazy earlier on today, from what Naruto said. Jiraiya can you see if anything is wrong with her. Medically, she is as healthy as a horse. There is nothing I can do about this."

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do. I'm not good at healing."

"Just do something, please." Jiraiya sighed and walked over and brought out a scroll, hoping to whatever deity out there that he can do something to help her out.

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto was sitting in the park meditating. He wasn't really up to training in anything after seeing what was happening to Kushina. The fact that she was going a bit crazy had him worried. So he just sat crossed legged in the park and closed his eyes and meditated to calm himself down. So far, about an hour of meditating, he was able to calm his worries down. His eyes opened when he heard a pair of feet stop in front of him. Looking up he saw a heavily bandaged man with his right arm in a sling. "May I help you sir?" Naruto asked politely since he was brought up to be polite to strangers.

"You are Naruto Uzumaki correct?" the elderly man asked. Naruto slowly nodded his head, he as already getting prepared himself depending if this was an attack or not. When the old man saw him tense he let out s small chuckle. "Do not worry boy, I am not here to hurt you. No, in fact I am here to help you."

"Help me?"

"Yes. Let me introduce myself. I am Danzou Shimura, I am part of the council of shinobi who work under your father."

"How do you know that?" Naruto grounded out.

"I knew you before the whole mishap two years ago. The one done by by your father."

"He is not my father."

"Fine, the Yondaime. It surprised me when I heard that you had managed to make it to the third part of the exams in Kumo."

"Oh, I didn't know they spoke about that in the meetings. I mean the chuunin exams are pretty small compared to most of the other topics that the council should speak about."

"You get me wrong, Uzumaki-san. I did not hear about this from our meetings. No, I heard about this from my team that I sent to Kumo," Danzou admitted.

"Oh, so those quiet dudes are your students?"

"Yes, I couldn't very well attend due to some, circumstances." Naruto's eyes darted to the bandages before looking back at his face.

"So why are you here Shimura-san?"

"As I said, I am here to help."

"Shouldn't you be helping out your team instead?"

"I should but you did something in the test that made me want to give you a scroll to help your training."

"And what is that I did Shimura-san?" Naruto asked slowly, wondering what did he do to get attention from this person.

"You seemed to be able to use fuuton chakra. That is rare for us in Konoha."

"Oh, yeah I know that. Other than myself, I know that the only other users were Asuma-san, the Yondaime and apparently…" Naruto looked at Danzou with a critical eye, "you."

"Yes. From what I know, Asuma Sarutobi is currently away and you are not going to ask the Yondaime for help. I came here looking to share my wealth on the subject. So I have come to offer you a scroll containing three easy Fuuton jutsus." Using his good hand, Danzou took out a scroll from his clothes and offered it to Naruto. The blond boy looked at the thing suspiciously, wondering if he should take it or not. "Do not worry. Again, I am only trying to help you again."

Naruto stood up and slowly grabbed the scroll. He took the scroll and read through the three jutsus. His eyes roamed and his eyes widened. "You are just going to give this to me? These jutsus are rather helpful to far mid to close range. Some of these are high class moves. Not A or S rank sure, but these are high up there. And you're just giving these to me?"

"Of course, anything to help the new generation." Naruto opened his mouth and closed it a couple of times before offering it back to Danzou. "Oh? You do not want these jutsus?"

"I do, but I can't accept these. I don't know how to repay if I accept this."

"No keep it," Danzou smiled. "All I ask you is to not lose in this tournament."

"Huh? That's it?" Naruto asked confused.

"Yes. I have a lot riding on you. So please do not lose." Naruto put the scroll into his pocket and nodded.

"Thank you then Shimura-san."

"No thank you Uzumaki-san, for doing your best out there in the exams." With that, Danzou turned and left the park. Naruto touched the scroll in his pocket before shaking his head and turned to leave the park as well. He decided to go back home and check up Kushina.

As he walked away, Danzou was watching him from the shadows of an alley. He turned to leave, when he ran into someone. "Hell Hiruzen, how are you?" Danzou asked. Standing in front of him was the Sandaime Hokage, and he didn't look happy.

"What are you up to Danzou?" Sarutobi demanded. He did not like what his old friend was up to, seeing as he did not know what he was thinking.

"Why Hiruzen, you suspect me of something?"

"You are always scheming, Danzou, I have to assume you are up to something. Why are you so interested in Naruto?"

"So you saw our little meeting did you Hiruzen." Danzou smiled at him. "Do not worry, I am truly out to help him out. I see no reason to hinder a shinobi of the leaf after all Hiruzen." As he the crippled man left, Hiruzen watched him wondering, what his old friend up his sleeve.

**(Scene change)**

As Naruto got home, he was met with the grim faces of Tsunade and Jiraiya. Tsunade had a whole bottle of sake in her hand, and Jiraiya was not making any perverted comments for once. "Hey Ero-sensei, I thought you were going to be gone for the rest of the month," Naruto stated as he entered the living room. Looking over to the side, he saw the crib that held Tsubaki and Yuri was still there, along with the two babies. "Is Kushina-sama still here?"

"Naruto, you better sit down. We have some bad news," Jiraiya sighed. Naruto slowly took a seat on the couch across from the two Sannin. "Something is wrong with Kushina."

"WHAT! What happened to her, is she alright? Is she sick? Did you take her to the hospital?" Naruto was up and worrying, he was about to head out the door when Jiraiya stopped him.

"Kid calm down. She's up stairs resting."

"Why didn't you take her to the hospital!"

"Kid, I know you're worried about your mother and all, no matter what you say, we know that you care for her…"

"But what happened to her is not something we can cure in the hospital," Tsunade replied as she took a swig of sake. "Jiraiya found something on her, in her mind."

"Found what?" Naruto demanded.

"We found a seal."

"A seal?"

"Yes Naruto, a seal," Jiraiya mentioned. The frown on his face deepened. "I don't know what type of seal it is, but from what Ir an on trying to determine what it was I found two words that made it clear what its objective is."

"Which is?"

"The seal on her mind had the words memory and restrict on them. Whatever that seal is, it is keeping some memories locked away somewhere in her mind. Very specific memories."

"Memories of what?"

"Memories of you," Tsunade told him. Naruto gave her a confused look causing her to explain what she meant. "Didn't you notice that she started getting crazy when she was talking to you. All the things that occurred today, the fact that the seal was acting up was due to you being so close to her."

"That doesn't explain what happened, and what do you mean being near me caused this to happen to her?"

"From what I saw, her motherly feelings for you were awakening the more you spent time with her. As if the seal was slowly being undone and some memories were flowing back, that or new ones were being made that made her act all motherly to you. That was when the seal started acting up and violently started trying to suppress some the feelings and memories. That...is my guess on what happened."

"So you're saying that someone put a seal on my kaa-san?" The two Sannin were surprised to hear Naruto call Kushina by that moniker, not after two years. Sure they knew that he wanted to call her that, but this was the first time in two years that he had openly called Kushina 'kaa-san.'

"Uh...yes, someone had placed a seal on Kushina that is keep her memories of you ever being born to her and raising you away," Jiraiya told him.

"What are the chances...Hokage-sama taking it off?"

"It should be easy for him to take it off. Although I don't see why he hasn't noticed it before."

"Probably because it didn't react until she made contact with me." Naruto frowned. "Although...from what you told me Ero-sensei, I have a distinct feeling that we shouldn't bring this to him." Jiraiya paused for a moment before nodding his head.

"Yeah, will all the circumstances of why your disowning occurred, chances are we shouldn't tell Minato about this."

"Wait, what are you two talking about?" Tsunade demanded. "We should take it to Minato!" Naruto looked at her with a raised eyebrow before turning to Jiraiya.

"You didn't tell her what we talked about a week ago did you?" Naruto asked.

"No, I should do that now," Jiraiya sighed.

"Tell me what? What are you talking about?" Tsunade muttered confused.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted the three of them. Looking towards the doorway, they saw Kushina looking at them. "Sorry I fainted on you guys, I probably inconvenienced you three." Kushina bowed.

"Kushina-sama, how are you feeling?" Naruto cautiously asked.

"I'm feeling better, thank you Naruto-kun. I must have fainted during our training session." She gave him a sheepish smile, which caused him to inwardly frown. "I promise I'll make it up to you later. Although I don't know why I fainted."

"Do you remember what we were talking about before you fainted?"

"Huh? What do you mean Naruto-kun?" He opened his mouth but closed it again and shook his head.

"It was nothing important."

"You should get home right now Kushina, you must be tired and the babies need to get more sleep," Jiraiya advised. "Tsunade go with her to make sure they get home fine. I need to have a few words with Naruto before I leave again." Tsunade was about to complain but saw the serious look on the toad sage's face and agreed.

"Come on Kushina, let's go. I'll take put Yuri and Tsubaki into their stroller and let's go." Kushina nodded at the older woman's words. Putting the babies into the device and sealing away the crib the two woman left, leaving the boy and the old man after bidding both of them good bye.

"I take it you don't want to inform her either huh?" Naruto asked Jiraiya. The man slowly nodded.

"While Kushina is a sealing master, she won't easily believe us if we tell her the truth. Hell, we'll probably be called crazy and sent to prison for treason," the sage answered.

"Damn. Are you sure you can't take it off?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Naruto stayed silent for awhile before speaking again.

"I guess that means I should become a fuuinjutsu master then. To free okaa-san of that seal."

"You do know that will take years to do right?"

"I know, I'll start to learn how to use even more complex seals than all the explosive seals I know so far." Naruto stood up, determination on his face. "I will fix whatever problems Hokage-sama has brought upon his...no...our family, even if it takes me my entire lifetime." Jiraiya laughed and patted him on the back.

"That's great kid, I'll help you along the way. So will Tsunade-hime." This caused Naruto to smirk and nod his head. "Well, I'm off to Iwa now. It won't take me long to get there get my info and come back. I'll personally escort you and Itachi back to Kumo for the exams."

"I'll hold you to it."

**(That night)**

It was close to midnight in Konoha and most of the people were sound asleep in the homes. However, it were those who were still awake that saw something out of the ordinary. That night drunks, ninjas on patrol and all those still awake saw a glimpse of a yellow blur running throughout the village. None were sure what it was, so they did not report it the following morning. Some said it was a ghost, other said it was just their imaginations, a few called it a rip off the Yondaime's technique. But they all had one thing in common: they heard the crackling of electricity as it passed by them.

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes: <strong>There's the chapter. Leave a review on how well I did. I'm trying to work on my chapter length too, slowly going from 5 to 6K. Eventually I'll reach my goal of 8K per chapter. But until then please enjoy!


	11. Battle

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Author's Notes:** The usual stuff, thanks for everything. I'll PM you if I thought your review needed to be answered. Here's the new chapter, blah, blah, blah. I sadly still don't have a beta. Still looking for one. By the way...I'm not good with fight scenes (at least I don't think I am). Enjoy the chapter!"

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><p>"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune shouted as she ran through the house. "Where is Naruto-kun! He's going to be late for the exams if he doesn't leave now!" It was a good three days before the exams in Kumo. The Hokage left a few days ago along with Kakashi and another teen by the name of Might Gai as his body guards. Kushina wanted to go along, and almost wasn't able to due to her needing to take care of the twins. However, Sarutobi was willing enough to take care of them so Kushina can go watch the fights as well. So now Shizune was worrying about getting Naruto up so they can leave for the tests.<p>

"Shizune, did you forget that Naruto left earlier this week with Jiraiya and Itachi?" Tsunade sighed as she put a scroll full of the things they'll need for travel in a pocket as well as some money. That had stopped Shizune from running around the house.

"He did? I didn't know that." Tsunade slapped her forehead

"I thought you knew. I mean it was quiet around the house, you didn't see him at breakfast or dinner. Something like that should have tipped you off."

"Eh? I always thought he was just leaving early or sleeping in the morning, and that he just fell asleep early than usual." The older woman let out a strangled noise at how her apprentice was acting up. "Now if you're not ready to leave in the next few minutes I'll be leaving you behind."

"AH! I need to pack up a few more clothes! Give a me a while!" Tsunade sighed and shook her head.

"Lazy girl."

(**Three Days Later- Kumo's Main Stadium)**

The stadium in which the third part of the exams was large. It was rectangular and made out of stone, covering a good two square kilometers (about two miles) in area. The stands were placed high above the stadium floor to keep the audience away from danger. Over them was a red tiled roof with several lightning rods, in order to keep them safe in case a storm hit. On the northern wall was the seat where the Raikage and any important guests would sit to view whatever occasion would occur. The battlefield itself looked like some part of nature had been ripped out and placed there. Several trees lined the walls and a few dozen bushes were near them as well. A few boulders were here and there and there was a stream flowing from a small pond within the battle.

Today the stands were packed for this was the first time in a few years in Kumogakure history that not one, but two other major villages were visiting just to watch their participants fight it out in their stadium. Not only that, but from the rumor mill there were several young kids, no older than ten years old, were participating in the following matches. That had drawn in such a large crowd. Some had come to watch to see the little kids get beaten down, others came to watch to see if their skills were really all that, while the daimyo's came to see if the villages they had hired before this were really up to snuff.

Up in the Kage box sat three very important figure heads. In the middle sat A, garbed in his Raikage robes: a white cloak and yellow colored hat with the character for lightning on the front. To his left sat none other than the Yondaime Hokage, Minato Namikaze. He too was dressed in his Hokage robes, a similar outfit to A's save the hat was red and had the character of fire on the front. To A's right was a short old man. He had a bulbous red nose and a white beard and a goatee. He too was dressed in the same robes as the others, except his hat was brown with the character for earth on the front. Sometimes, his eyes would drift over to Minato before making a growling noise. "I didn't know you had an alliance with the Hokage, Raikage-sama," the old man muttered.

"We don't have an alliance, at least not yet Onoki...I mean Tsuchikage-sama," A replied. "I have a feeling that after these exams we may have the ground to form an alliance."

"I agree Raikage-sama," Minato smiled at them. "Besides, the war was back then Tsuchikage-sama. We should forgive and forget."

"Like I can forgive you for annihilating most of my army during the Third Ninja War," Onoki snarled.

"I'm sorry about that Tsuchikage-sama, but those were hard times for either side. We both had to do what we needed to do, isn't that right Raikage-sama?"

"I agree with the Hokage on this one Tsuchikage-sama," A nodded. "We all had to make some choices we did not want to make and had to do things we had to do, for the sake of our villages." Onoki growled one more time but nodded his head, knowing very well that the war was hard on everyone not just himself. "But that is beside the point today. Today we are here to see the potential our villages have."

"Yes, this is going to be interesting, and if I'm not mistaken that boy down there, the blonde one looks familiar. Is he your son Hokage-sama?" Onoki asked with an eyebrow raised as he turned to looked at Minato. A turned to look at him too as the blond smiled at them.

"He is not my son. Several people have noted that before but no, we have no relationship to each other," Minato answered. Behind him his bodyguards, Kakashi and a man with a bowl cut by the name of Might Gai looked at each other for a split second but didn't say anything. Raikage looked around and shook his head. The information he had received from his spies in Konoha were slim to none. There were barely any records of the boy named Naruto Uzumaki. Any information there was about him was not really insightful at all. Hell, his spies stated that getting information on the Hokage's daughters were much easier to find. "Although I must admit, my wife seems to be fond of him, since they were both Uzumakis." Onoki grunted as well as A and then all three looked to where the battlefield was.

(**With the Contestants)**

All the participants were standing at the center of the battlefield looking around the stands. A few of them were quiet, such as Irouh from Iwa, Yugito and the ROOT genin. Others were waving enthusiastically looking around and waving at people, like Deidara. The last few were just talking amongst them were just talking amongst themselves, like Darui and C, as well as Naruto and Itachi. "So who came to support you today Itachi?" Naruto asked as he put his arms behind his head. Looking around Itachi stopped before nodding over to the western wall.

"Seems like otou-san and okaa-san are here with Sasuke and Shinsui-nii," Itachi replied. Naruto looked over and saw the familiar figures of Mikoto, Fugaku, little baby Sasuke and Shisui. Shisui was a teen, a few years older than both of them. He was dressed in Jounin gear was sitting on one side of Mikoto. His hair was black and wild like a lions mane. He was smiling towards the two boys and shook his head. Naruto smirked before turning to Itachi.

"I guess he's here to see the fruits of his labor of training you huh?" Itachi nodded and then looked a few rows up to see Naruto's contingent of support.

"It seems like your supporters are up there too." Naruto looked over to where he was looking at and couldn't help but smile. Sitting near the top was Jiraiya, who was sitting next to Tsunade. The medical ninja was speaking to Kushina, with Shizune on her other side listening in. She turned her head and saw Naruto looking at them and waved, which the blond responded in kind. Next to her was also Yugao smiling at them.

"Yeah, they're all here too." Naruto sighed and looked at the other contestants. They all seemed anxious to fight, even those who seemed quiet. "Who do you think will come out on top Itachi?"

"Of course, I am going to be the winner."

"Oh? You so sure about that, because I'm pretty sure I'll win."

"Aren't you two cocky hn?" Deidara smirked from next to Naruto. "You forget you still have to beat me to get to the next round. It's not like you can." Both blonds glared at each other causing Darui, who was watching, to sigh.

"Man, the fights haven't even started yet and those two are rearing to go," Darui sighed.

"I wish the proctor would hurry up so we can go already," Yugao said right next to him.

"We can't do anything about that, girly," Irouh said as he looked at her. "You'll have to wait just like everyone else."

"Can I have your attention please," a voice announced. The kids all looked in front of them and saw a ninja appear. He was a man who looked to be in his mid thirties was standing there. Over his left eye was an eye patch with the kanji for lightning on it. He wore all black from his long sleeved shirt all the way down to his pants and sandals. Across his left shoulder and around his torso was the armor that the jounins in Kumo wore. His forehead protector was around his forehead, but strangely enough it looked more like a fluffy chef's hat than a headband. "I am Dodai, and I will be your proctor for these exams."

"Oh thank Kami!" all the participants eerily said at the same time, causing everyone watching to looked confused by their response.

"I was seriously afraid that really happy girl would be coming back," Torune muttered, causing all the people to nod. "I swear even though she didn't talk much, her voice just grates on your nerves."

"Amen to that," Naruto agreed.

"Er...Moving on," Dodai slowly said. "We will be starting the matches. Now, you have to abide by the rules that we will set right now. You can give up at anytime, during or before the match if you don't think you are up to it. Also, only I can stop the match and you must listen to me when I say so is that understood?"

"HAI!" all the participants shouted.

"Good, now if Itachi Uchiha and C would stay on the field while everyone else goes to the competitor box, we will begin shortly." Everyone turned to leave and Naruto saw Darui and Yugito giving C their regards. He walked over to Itachi and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'd tell you good luck partner, but knowing who you are you won't need it. Just a word of advice," Naruto smirked at him.

"And what advice would that be?" Itachi inquired.

"Don't hold back...much." The Uchiha nodded to answer, and then the blond left. Itachi and C met up in the cent of the battlefield and looked at each other, with Dodai looking at both of them

"Are you two ready?"

"Hai," both participants stated.

"Then begin!" C jumped back immediately and looked at Itachi who was just staring at him. His hands were in his pockets and was just staring at him with an indifferent stare.

"What is up with you? Are you not going to fight?" C asked.

"To be honest, I'm not sure what to do against you just yet. I don't know what you are capable of," Itachi replied in a nonchalant manner. "So, I'll let you have the first move."

"Well, aren't you cocky just like your friend? Very well then." Itachi just watched as C went through various hand seals to perform his jutsu, while the crowd was wondering why the hell Konoha ninja was not doing anything. From his spot Naruto was just smirking the entire time, and all the other competitors were watching carefully to see if they can find out anything about Itachi just in case they would need to fight him. "Raigen Raikouchuu (_Lightning Illusion Flash of Lightning)_!" C shouted. Sparks of electricity came off of him and blind several people. When the flash of light died Itachi raised his eyebrow when he didn't see C in front of him. "Are you wondering where I went Uchiha-san?"

"Not really," Itachi muttered as he looked around. He noticed that several cherry blossoms were floating around him and saw the images of C appearing and disappearing within the cherry blossoms. "Nice genjutsu by the way." He felt some movement coming from his side and dodged to the left, dodging the kunai that was aimed at his back. As he sidestep he shot his arm out, and managed to back hand C even though he was in the genjutsu. The blond look shocked for a moment before disappearing within the sea of floating cherry blossoms.

"How did you do that?" C asked still within his genjutsu.

"To quote my teammate: who knows?" Itachi then jumped up and kicked at some location and once again C was thrown out. C glared at Itachi who sighed. Making a ram seal Itachi broke the genjutsu. The flower petals stopped floating around and Itachi still looked indifferently at C. "If you were wondering how I did broke the genjutsu so easily, just remember my name." C grunted and spat out some blood that had accumulated in his mouth after Itachi had managed to kick him there.

"Uchiha, tch. Great at genjutsus. Should have known that wouldn't work on you. Fine, if genjutsus won't work on you I guess taijutsu is the only way to go against you." Itachi took out his hands from his pockets as C got into a taijutsu stance. C dashed forward and threw a punch, which Itachi caught and retaliated by punching him in the face. He then followed it up by kicking him in the stomach and punched again. This had launched C up into the air, but he flipped to recover. When C landed, he was surprised to see Itachi already in front of him. Put his arms up to block the elbow aimed at his face. Sadly he did not catch the knee that hit him on the chin. C managed to kick out his leg after getting hit, but Itachi grabbed the leg and threw C over his shoulder and onto the ground. When he recovered Itachi snapped his fingers causing him to disappear in a flock of crows. "A genjutsu huh? Well, I'll be able to get out this one easily." Putting his hands into the ram seal, he went to dispel the genjutsu but he then heard Itachi's voice appearing from within the flock.

"Escaping my genjutsu won't be that easy," Itachi warned him. Ignoring the warning C began to gather chakra. "Foolish." C saw several crows flying towards him, and when they got close to him they turned into shuriken and cut him in several places.

"Damn! Those were real!" The flock continued to fly around him and several more birds flew forward and C dodged it.

"That was a mistake." C turned around and saw that the birds disappeared in a storm of feathers. He then felt a blow to his stomach and another to his face. C recovered from the attack and looked tried to break the genjutsu again, only to see more birds flying towards him. Managing to dodge the attack, he found himself in the trees of the stadium. He was trying to catch his breath. "You just made another mistake. You're in my territory now." Suddenly the flock of crows attacked nonstop. Most turned into shuriken and others started to claw at him. He could barely move due to the onslaught of the attack. He could feel several slashes being put on him and felt the blood flowing. C knew that Itachi was attacking him physically, but unlike the Uchiha he couldn't respond back. "Time to finish this." C suddenly felt an overwhelming force on his mind and was knocked out.

Itachi dropped the genjutsu and grabbed C, dragging him out of the tree line. Dodai was out there waiting. "What happened to him?" the proctor asked. He noted the several cuts on the blond boy.

"I knocked him out via genjutsu," Itachi cooly replied. "You should get a medic for him to heal the wounds. After you call the match that is." Dodai nodded his head and placed his hand up.

"The winner of the first match is Itachi Uchiha of Konoha!" he announced. Cheers could be heard from all around, but the loudest one Itachi could hear was Naruto.

"WOOOOOT!" he heard Naruto exclaim. "Good job partner!"

"Naruto calm down! You're more excited about this than me." Itachi shook his head as he made his way up, while the medics took C to the infirmary. As he turned to leave the field, he looked towards where his parents were. Fugaku gave him a nod, and Mikoto waved and smiled at him proudly. Shisui gave him smile and thumbs up. As he went to the stairs, he met up with Yugito and Fu were walking down the stairs. As he passed by them, he made sure that they didn't see his eyes. His Sharingan was spinning as he processed the information from his battle against C. The genjutsus he had done were simple, really simple but they would be useful one day. Also, he noted that his opponent had fine chakra control. If he hadn't broken C's concentration several times, Itachi was sure he would have had a harder battle. Also If C did not start with a genjutsu from the beginning, the Kumo genin would have had a better chance at winning. As he entered the viewing deck of where the competitors were staying, he saw Naruto leaning against the railing.

"Learned a few moves didn't you?" Naruto whispered as Itachi joined him. Itachi looked at the smirking blond in the corner of his eyes but didn't reply. This caused Naruto to smirk even wider. "Well, then it doesn't matter. I'll just have to find a way around them either way."

"I know you will, partner."

(**Battlefield)**

Yugito and Fu were at center stage and Dodai was in between them. Looking over both of the teens he nodded to himself. "The second match is about to start. Are you two ready?" Both of them nodded their heads. "Then start!" Dodai jumped back just in time to dodge both young teens slamming each other's fists. The two teens were exchanging furious blows as they continued to fight. Kicks, punches and all manners of attack were traded between the two. After a few intense few seconds, the moved away from each other. Both of them were moving through hand seals as they moved back, the exact same ones to be in fact.

"Katon: Endan _(Fire Release: Flame Bullet!)_" both teens shouted. Both shot out medium sized fireballs from their mouths that collided with each other. The ensuing explosion shot them both back a bit. Fu was able to regain his footing and dash forward through the smoke and dust. Grabbing the handle of the katana on his back, Fu drew it and attempted to slash at where Yugito was on the other side. He was surprised when he felt something block the blade, although it did not show on his face. Looking at Yugito, he saw that he fingernails had gotten longer. After pushing him off, the Kumo kunoichi slashed at him with her claws. Fu jumped back, but his shirt was ripped when one claw scratched it, noticing just how much sharper her nails had become.

"This is odd," Fu stated. "Is this some sort of kekkei genkai (bloodline limit)?"

"You can say that," Yugito replayed. With a shout, she dashed forward and continued to try and scratch at Fu. The orange haired boy blocked each attack, but was unlucky to get hit on his right arm. Even though it was just a light scratch, he was forced to drop his katana from the impact. The Konoha ninja did handspring when he landed and got as far as he can from Yugito to assess the situation. The girl was already doing more hand seals as she got her next attack ready. "Nezumi Kedama _(Mouse Hairball)!_" Yugito took in a deep breath before spitting out several flaming pieces of hair in the shape of mice. The jutsu had them scurrying along towards Fu. The ROOT ninja, frowned when he saw that the mice were heading towards him. Jumping back, Fu tried to get as far away from the flaming mice as he can.

After a step back, he turned and ran. The shinobi was looking for away to somehow escape the hairballs. The blazing rodents were following him wherever he went. When one touched a large boulder, it exploded. This caused the boy to frown even more. Quickly surveying his surrounding, his eyes landed on the small pond int the battlefield. Making a hard turn, he jumped off a tree using chakra to give him an extra boost as some of the mice came into contact with the tree. He was flung forward with the jumped. After a few short seconds he landed on the water, using chakra to let him stay on top of it. He turned around and saw the mice were right behind him. As the mice approached, he cut off his flow and fell into the water. As he did the mice made contact with the surface and exploded.

As all of this was happening, Yugito was closely following behind them. She watched as each move was dodged, and was always waiting for a chance to strike. The girl was surprised to see him fall into the water just to avoid the attack. It was a tense minute as she waited for him to resurface. All her waiting resulted with the water exploding in front of her and several kunai shooting out. "Damn!" she cursed as the blades flew to close to her. She dodged to the right and her eyes widened. When she saw a white light hit her.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu _(Mind Body Switch Technique), _complete," Fu muttered before he closed his eyes and his body floated upward in the water. Yugito's body went limp and then stood up. Her eyes were blank for a few seconds and everyone was waiting for what would happen. The following minute had everyone on the edge of their seats. However, a few of them were frowning: Naruto, A and Killer B (he's part of the Raikage's guard). They knew what would happen if that move would be used against her. A few seconds later the same white light was shot out of her body and back into Fu. The boy immediately recovered but was panting. His eyes were wide as he stared at the girl. "What are you?"

"You saw that didn't you?" Yugito asked as she bowed her head. She then lifted her head up and glared at him. "Now that you've seen that. I don't think you can live." Since Fu was still trembling in fear, Yugito used that moment to attack. She slashed him across the chest leaving long scratch marks on him as well as blood squirting out of it. She kept on slashing at him with an intent to kill. Leaving several scratch marks on his chest and more blood. The Konoha genin had already lost consciousness, but she kept on attacking.

"Yugito is the winner! So stop now! You might kill him!" Dodai shouted as she kept on attacking. "Yugito stop it!" The girl wouldn't listen though and kept on attacking Fu. "Yugito!"

(**Kage Box**)

"B, stop her!" A shouted.

"I don't think I have to, bro," Killer B replied. "Looks like our friend will be a little hero." Several gasps were heard from all around the stadium. Looking at battlefield he saw something he hadn't seen in such a long time. Standing behind Yugito was Naruto, his right arm was held out. Around his arm were golden chains that were extending all the way to Yugito. What surprised her them was the fact that almost all of her were covered in the same chains. The only thing that wasn't chained up was her head. "Heh I don't know what to think. Who would have guessed that he was into kink?" B was laughing.

"Well, now that is a sight," Onoki smirked. They watched as Yugito struggled and Naruto bowing his head to Dodai, apologizing for interrupting him. He then proceeded to drag the girl to the stairs. He along with many other people sweat dropped at the little blond's actions. "So the things written about some Uzumaki's are true then. Being able to make chains out of their chakra to stop their opponent." Onoki then looked at Minato who, was watching Naruto intently. "You have quiet the boy there Hokage-sama. Where did you find such a prospective child?"

"He is a person who just lives in the village in the same house as Tsunade-sama," Minato calmly replied. "I didn't even know he had this ability to be honest, so this is all new to me too."

"Really now?" the Raikage muttered. He stippled his fingers together and had a thoughtful look on his face. "I see that you don't know all the skills of your ninja then. Although, not every kage does not even myself"

"But it was really a surprise to see that happen," Onoki pointed out. "This just made the exams all the more intriguing."

**(With Tsunade)**

"Hey, hentai (_pervert_)did you know the brat could do that?" Tsunade glared at Jiraiya.

"No hime, I did not," the sage replied, looking all the more serious. "Who would have thought he'd be able to do that? Isn't that right Kushina?"

"I didn't know of any other than myself actually," Kushina admitted as she looked to where the competitors were. She saw Itachi smacking Naruto on the back of the head, while the blond apologized to Yugito who was looking at him with a disapproving glare. She saw him explaining something to the girl, who had her eyes widen then glare even harder at the boy. "I know Mito-sama was able to do this too, but since the destruction of Uzushiogakure when I was a child I didn't know anyone else who was able to use that move."

"Naruto-kun must be a very special boy then," Shizune smiled. Although she knew the truth, she couldn't state it out right due to the laws the Yondaime had put down. Next to her Yugito was looking at Naruto before looking at Kushina, then looking back at the blond. During their journey back to Konoha, Naruto took her to the side and explained his situation to her, but she had to swear to not tell anyone. She could see a little resemblance between them, but she could see the resemblance between him and the Yondaime. She sighed, knowing some things wouldn't change even after knowing this.

(**Battlefield)**

On the field was were now two boys, Darui and the one known as Torune. He was dressed in all black. He had a long sleeved skin tight shirt, long pants and a black mask that had the Konoha insignia on the forehead. A crop of black hair was on top of it all. On his hands were black leather gloves. "Are you to ready to start?" Dodai asked.

"Yeah, sure," Darui droned out. Torune just nodded.

"Then begin." The moment the fight started, Darui felt something, something was off. His instincts were telling him to get away, away from the person in front of him. Immediately as he saw the proctor jump away, he went as far back as he could. Torune slowly took off his gloves and ran forward. Darui dodged the punch as it came near him. As he did, he saw a bug fly out of Torune's sleeve that landed on his shoulder. He kicked the boy away and slammed crushed the bug on his shoulder. Darui then saw some on his pants after he kicked the older teen. He moved back and took them off of him before crushing them.

"Tch, a Konoha ninja who uses bugs," Darui sighed. "You must be an Aburame huh? Man and here I thought this battle was going to be dull, and here I get an annoying fight." Darui then shook his head looking at the Aburame. He looked at his opponent's arms and saw that it was turning purple. "I don't know what the hell that is, but I'm not going to be touched by that." Reaching behind him, Darui pulled out several shuriken and threw them at Torune. The teen dodged them and kept on running. The Kumo ninja then pulled out more shuriken and kept on throwing them as he kept moving backwards and away from the boy. This went on for a bout two minutes, until Darui hit a wall. He was resting his back against it, and he watched as Torune was coming towards him. Darui released a sigh, before doing a few hand seals."Raiton: Jibashi." Torune watched as electricity flowed through the boys hand as he ran towards him, and saw that it was heading into the ground. The Konoha ninja's eyes widened when he saw the electricity running through a wire. Looking at the shuriken next to him, he saw that they all had ninja steel wire running through the centers. Remembering the absurd amount shuriken the boy threw, he was force to jump up. "Just as I was expecting." Torune looked at Darui doing a few hand seals, faster than what most people could do. "Ranton: Reizaa Saakasu (_Storm Release: Laser Circus)_." From his hands a dull glowing light appeared, then from there several beams shot out and hit Torune. After the attack finished, Darui grabbed the still electrified wires and flung it upward and it tied up Torune. As it did, the shuriken embedded themselves into the ninja and he was electrified. When he fell to the ground, he was already unconscious.

"Darui is the winner! Medics please come and take Torune-san to the infirmary!" Dodai shouted. Darui let out a sigh before heading towards the stairs, leaving the crowd cheering. "Will the next competitors come to the battlefield?"

(**Competitor's box)**

Naruto smirked. He looked at Deidara who was smirking at him too, the two blonds knowing that they'd put on a show for the crowd during their battle, because they had something to prove. Naruto was about to leave, when Itachi grabbed his shoulder. Looking at his partner, the blond raised an eyebrow. "Was it right to tell Yugito-san what you did to her?" Itachi asked.

"She had the right to know," Naruto whispered back. "If I hadn't restrained her during the match, she would have been disqualified and would have killed someone. I guess knowing that she's a...special person would be bad to Kumo's defenses after all." Itachi looked behind the blond, to the girl who would be his opponent in the next round. She was glaring specifically at Naruto. "Plus," he smirked. "It's not like she can do anything about it." Itachi sighed and shook his head.

"Don't get too hurt out there in this match, you have one right after it remember that." Naruto nodded and jumped over the railing, landing softly on his feet. He slowly walked over to the center were Deidara was waiting for him.

"Way to make an entrance Mini-Yondaime," Deidara taunted.

"I aim to please the crowd you crazy bastard," he replied with a shrug.

"How about a quick handshake before the match hn?" Deidara held out his hand. His eyes were closed and he had a smile on his face. Naruto returned the smile, oddly enough making him look like a fox. Taking the hand in his they shook hands before letting go. Deidara smirked as he thought, _"Dumbass."_

"You two seem oddly friendly to each other," Dodai commented. Both blond boys looked at the man and jerked their thumbs at each other.

"Me, friendly to him?" they both said at the same time. "Don't make me laugh. It's not like I can be friends with an idiot/fruitcake like him." This caused Dodai to sweat drop and look at the two boys who seemed to be a bit crazy.

"Alright then, if you two are ready, begin!" Dodai didn't even have time to jump back, when Naruto slammed his fist into Deidara's face. The other blond kid didn't have time to react, when Naruto was already punching him in the stomach and and again in the face. Deidara managed to block one punch, and kick Naruto in the stomach and move away.

"You're not getting away!" Naruto shouted. "If I even let you get far away enough, you'll make those damned bombs of yours!" The Konoha ninja jumped threw two kunai at Deidara, forcing him to dodge out of the way. This opted Naruto to get in closer. When he Deidara saw this he smirked.

"Dumbass! Do you really think I wouldn't know about that?" he laughed. "I came prepared for that instance." Deidara reached into the bags on his sides and threw already prepared clay bird bombs. Placing a single hand in a half ram seal, making the birds grow bigger. They flew toward the whiskered blond boy. Naruto drew several kunai from his back pocket and threw them at the birds. "Heh! You think those will hit my birds! How naive!" The clay birds changed formation and avoided the kunai.

"Who ever said I was aiming at your birds?" The kunais stopped in front of Deidara, and he heard a hissing sound. Looking down the Iwa ninja saw explosive tags on the handles of the kunais.

"D-Damn!" Deidara dove to the right as the kunais exploded. "You still haven't dodged my bombs!" He watched as Naruto was hit by the bombs. The explosion was mild, but the smoke cloud covered Naruto. When it cleared, Deidara only saw pieces of a log. "What! Kawarimi!"

"Fuuton:Shinkuugyoku (_Wind Release Vacuum Sphere)!"_ Looking up Deidara saw a Naruto falling down onto him, and spitting spheres of air from his mouth. One hit him in the shoulder, and as the others descended upon him, Deidara threw up several clay bombs in the shape of cartoonish spiders. They grew bigger and exploded when the bullets of air hit them. The ensuing explosion sent Naruto backward as he continued his fall and block Deidara from view. Naruto landed onto the ground, and looked to where Deidara was last seen. There was nothing there, save for a few blood stains of blood. "Damn, he got away." Naruto was already looking for him, when a centipede burst out of the ground and trapped him. "What's this!"

"Hehehe, dumbass you got caught," Deidara laughed as he emerged from the ground. The centipede then began to constrict, making it harder for Naruto to breath. "Tell you what, I'll let you live if you quit right now."

"You think I'd give up after something as simple as this?" the blond wheezed, since it was that much harder to breath with a clay bug crushing your lungs.

"What do you mean? You've obviously lost your mind since you can't get enough air to your brain, hn."

"You really think you've gotten me trapped huh Iwa-dumbass? I'll show you just how wrong you are." Naruto's body glowed a bright white for a split second, before he punched out and smashed his face into Deidara's face.

"H-how did you break out of that?" Deidara stuttered, as he caught Naruto's arm as the blond went for another punch.

"Like hell I'd tell you that then. Oh yeah, that clay spider you put on my wrist at the before we began the match during out little hand shake. I took it off."

"Wh-what!" Naruto grabbed a kunai and placed it at Deidara's throat.

"Surrender, or I'll kill you." Deidara hung his head, and his shoulders began to shake. "Hey brat, don't tell me you're to start crying now. I know you're only like a year younger than me, but man if you're going to cry if you're forced to surrender I don't think you should be here." Deidara started to shake more before he showed his face and was laughing.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Have you gone off the deep end?" Naruto wondered as he saw the laughing boy. "Did I punch you in the face a bit too much?" Suddenly the younger blond sat up and gave Naruto a hug. "Oi! Let go of me! I don't care if you swing that way but I don't!" The blond's eyes widened when he saw Deidara glowing.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA! You fell for it you dumbass! Art is a bang! Katsu!" Deidara shouted.

"Oh shi-!" The explosion took was much larger than all the previous ones, obscuring both Naruto and Deidara from the view of the crowd. Even Dodai had to look away so the dust from the explosion wouldn't get in his eye. When he looked back, he saw that the only one on the field was Naruto, and he was badly charred and he didn't look like he was breathing. The crowd gasped. Again, Deidara resurfaced from the ground and smiled at his work.

"Well, now seeing as the blond idiot can no longer fight, you should call the match, hn."

"R-Right. The winner is…" Dodai was about to exclaim, but was interrupted when several chains shot out of the ground.

"Wh-what's this!" Deidara stammered as he found his entire body engulfed by chains, just like Yugito was previously. Naruto erupt from the ground of the battlefield, dirtied and smirking. "H-How did you escape from my Clay clone!"

"Heh, you think I'm that stupid?" Naruto laughed as he stood up. Everyone saw the chains were tied to his left forearm. "The first explosion had given me enough time to, dig myself underground and have my clone fight from there on. I had him fight you just to get you into a sense of security thinking you won. The moment you thought I died," Naruto stopped to look at the clone that was on the ground, who then disappeared into a puff of smoke, "You let your guard down incredibly. Now let me finish this." Naruto did a few hand seals. "Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku!" Naruto inhaled and spat out several times, sending air bullets into Deidara's arms and legs and one in his stomach. Deidara screamed in pain, before fainting. Naruto looked behind him and nodded at the proctor who was nodded back at him.

"The winner of this match is Naruto!" Dodai exclaimed, and the crowd cheered. "Medics please take the young man away from the battlefield." Naruto stood there as the medics came in and took Deidara. Dodai looked at the blond before speaking. "Seeing as you have another match immediately after that last match, we are willing to give you thirty minutes to get patched up."

Naruto shook his head. "Nah, I didn't even get scratched. The entire fight I was on the offensive and I switched out early with a clone. Just give me five minutes to restore some chakra to myself." Dodai nodded.

"Will Irouh please join us on the field so we can await the time for the battle, here." The other Iwa ninja nodded and headed for the stairs.

**(Kage Box)**

"That boy Naruto keeps on surprising me even more," A commented. "That was professionally done, just like his teammate. If you notice both of them were not hurt at all during their battles and they managed to beat their opponents. You have some strong ninja there."

"So do you," Minato commented. "Darui also managed to beat my ninja without getting hurt as well."

"All though that one girl you have seemed rather unstable," Onoki mentioned. "She started slicing up that one ninja with her claws after being ejected out of her mind. Wonder what happened there?"

"It's of no matter," A waved his hand.

**(With the Uchihas)**

"So that is Itachi's partner huh?" Fugaku asked Mikoto. His wife nodded and smiled.

"Yes, he is. What do you think of him Fugaku?" she asked him.

"He's not that bad." Next to Mikoto, Shisui was chuckling as he held Sasuke in his lap.

"What's so funny Shisui-kun?" Mikoto asked.

"That's the best compliment I heard Fugaku-sama give to any person that wasn't an Uchiha," the teen smiled. "He must acknowledge Naruto's power if that is the case."

"It's too early for me to make a decision about that. I mean that was just a simple match. Against an apprentice of the blast corps if I'm right."

"Still the best compliment you gave to any non-Uchiha Fugaku-sama."

**(With Tsunade)**

"I didn't think that was possible," Kushina muttered under her breath.

"What is?" Tsunade asked.

"I didn't know you could use the sealing chains on regular people. It's supposed to only work on _'special' _people."

"Like who?" Yugao asked curiously.

"People like me and my daughters." That confused the purple haired girl.

"I'm confused though," Jiraiya stated. The women looked at him, and noticed that he had a serious face on. "Who taught him that fuuton jutsu? No one else in the village knows of them, since Asuma left, and I know he would ask Minato since he knows he's a busy man." That last part was a lie, but Kushina didn't need to know that. Especially with the conspiracy that he and Naruto have against the Yondaime.

**(Battlefield)**

"Hey," Naruto called out to Irouh, who gripping the handle of his katana. The brown haired boy looked at him with a raised brow. "What's your last name?"

"Taidou, why do you ask?" Irouh inquired.

"Does either of your parents have red hair?"

"No."

"I see."

"You see what?"

"That scroll, I want it back."

"What scroll?"

"The Koutei no Ryuu scroll, that belongs to my clan. I would like it back."

"Oh you mean this?" Irouh reached behind him and showed a scroll to him. On it was the Uzumaki symbol.

"Yes, I want that back."

"Heh, you have to beat me if you want it back."

"Fine, you have to give it to me if I win."

"But if I win, I'll take an arm off of you."

"I have no problem with that."

"The time you wanted for a reprieve is up Naruto-san. Are you good enough to fight?" Dodai asked. The blond nodded. "Good, now let the final match of the first round begin!" Naruto blocked the attack from Irouh's katana the moment the match began, using two kunais. He fell to one knee, due to the strength of the Iwa ninja.

"What's wrong brat? Where is all that spirit you had earlier?" Irouh mocked Naruto. The blond didn't speak, but pushed the blade away from him.

"_Burakku Sheru!" _Naruto punched, as Irouh's arms were still up.

"HA! I'm not going to be hit by that move like my idiot teammate!" Irouh brought down the butt of the katana onto Naruto's fist forcing the blow to be diverted. Naruto winced, but managed to deflect the slash that came right after it using the kunai in his other hand. Naruto stepped in the space between Irouh's feet.

"_Baamirion Uingu!"_ Naruto brought his foot dragged his foot around, and did a swipe with it, trying to trip up his opponent. Irouh lifted up his leg to avoid the attack and went for a stab at Naruto. Using both katana, Naruto blocked parried the attack. Naruto jumped back after that and dashed forward again.

"_Howaito Dansu!_" Naruto dashed forward and began to do a flurry of punches and kicks. Irouh smirked as he dodged or block the attack, while returning the favor with one of his own. He managed to cut Naruto a few times, but they were all shallow. After the combo, Naruto jumped back again and was panting. Putting away his Kunai he did a few hand seals before shouting, "Fuuton: Shinkuu Renpa (_Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves)!"_ The blond let out a breath as he moved his head in odd directions and blew out several blades made out of air.

"Heh, I've dealt with a few fuuton users before from Suna. You're nothing compared to them. This is more like a breeze to me." Irouh then some how managed to block all the blades that were coming towards him. "Is that it?"

"Not at all." Naruto took out a scroll, and bit his thumb hard enough to draw blood. Spreading some blood on the scroll and channeled chakra into it. From within the scroll, Naruto's wakizashi appeared. He drew it and threw the sheath to the side. "To be honest, I was waiting for you to use the Koutei no Ryuu technique, but since you aren't apparently pulling it out I might as well force it out of you. Fuuton: Harukaze Miyabi (_Wind Release: Spring Wind Elegance)."_ A soft breeze was expelled from Naruto and he shook his head. "So, let's force you to use that little move now shall we?"

"Heh, so you want a sword fight? By the way you're holding your sword, one handed no less, you must be a beginner. You sure you want to fight me on my terms?"

"I'll be more than enough to be you trust me." Naruto rested the back side of the blade on his shoulder and ran forward. As he neared Irouh, Naruto readied the sword as if he were going to do a diagonal cut and Irouh easily read this. Placing the sword in front of him to block, Irouh smirked at the new swordsman. When he was only a few meters away, Naruto kept coming closer and the Iwa ninja swung his blade. Just as his blade was about to hit Naruto, the blond disappeared in a yellow blur reappeared behind Irouh and cut his back causing the teen to shout in pain. That one attack made the stadium go deathly silent, which was only broken when one voice erupted from the Kage Box.

**(Kage Box)**

"WHAT WAS THAT!" Onoki roared. His eyes were wide in shock. The boy did what only one man could do, or at least seemed to do. Looking over at the Yondaime Hokage, Onoki pointed at him, teeth bared. "Did you teach that boy that damned jutsu of yours!" Now when the crowd heard that, they all broke into whispers.

"No I did not," Minato replied, speechless as well. He didn't know Naruto was capable of such a thing, nor did he expect the boy to know the Hiraishin no Jutsu. "Whatever he did, it looked like my jutsu but it wasn't it." As the murmurs were going on, A looked at Naruto who went onto a defensive stance waiting for Irouh to get up.

'_I'm surprised to see this,'_ the Raikage thought. _'A month and he's progressed this far with the Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor). It's no where near complete. If it were complete, the Iwa kid would have been cut in half._' The dark skinned man looked at the boy's legs but couldn't see the electricity at all, nor any part of his body. _'It also seems like the kid can't keep it up consistently during the fight.'_

**(Battle Field)**

"What the hell was that?" Irouh ground out.

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged his shoulders. Irouh frowned, before standing up and grabbing his katana, he charged the blond who didn't move. As he swung his blade, Irouh was surprised when the little blond boy deflected the attack as if it were nothing. So he tried again, but again Naruto had easily blocked the attack. Irouh then decided to speed up his attacks, but no matter what he did Naruto seemed to be able to react to his moves no matter what direction they came from. After deflecting another attack, Naruto blurred out of sight again and delivered yet another slash onto Irouh's back. Irouh tried to attack behind him, but Naruto disappeared again reappearing behind him one more time. "_Buruu Sutoomu!"_ Naruto pushed his two arms forward, doing the same attack he did on Irouh's teammate. The Iwa ninja was able to put his arms in front of him just before the attack hit. He felt several cuts, scrapes and gashes appear on his body. He fell onto one knee due to the damage. The blond moved a bit away from him, and just stared at him.

"Shit!" Irouh coughed as he managed to get up on his feet. "This was the same move you hit Ura with!"

"You're lucky actually. Most of the force behind that technique was lost long ago. That's probably the reason you're able to still stand." The Iwa ninja looked up and glared at Naruto as he looked down on him passively. "So are you going to show me that move or not? If not, I think I'll take that scroll from you now." Irouh sneered at him and slashed upward, which Naruto parried. This gave Irouh enough time to make some space between them.

"You want to see that technique? Fine, I'll show you that technique! It will be the last technique you'll ever see!" He then held the handle of his katana in his right hand and gripped the blade in his left. The blade then began to glow yellow, which Irouh then placed the tip of the blade onto the ground in front of him.

"Good," Naruto smiled. "This is what I've been waiting for!"

"_Koutei no Ryuu: Funka Kiri (Emperor Style: Erupting Slash)!"_Irouh roared, as he channeled as his current frustration into the attack. As he swung the blade, it tore up the ground along it, sending both the yellow chakra and rocks towards Naruto. Again just before it hit, Naruto blurred out of sight with the technique hitting the wall far behind him.

"Not bad," Naruto commented from behind him. "If that hit, you would have been able to complete the combo, and would have done so much damage." The blond then shook his head at the teen who was panting hard and bleeding profusely. "Sadly, you missed and too tired to even counterattack. So I suggest you give up now, or I'll have to hurt you more."

"I'll never surrender," Irouh replied without looking at him, since he had barely enough energy to keep standing let alone move.

"Man, and here I thought I'd get to try out more moves. Oh well." Naruto slowly walked up to him and knocked him out by hitting the butt of his sword onto the back of the guy's skull. "Hey proctor call it." Dodai nodded.

"The winner is Naruto! Medics please come and get Irouh out of here and into the infirmary!" Dodai announced.

"Hey get a stretcher for me too."

"Why Naruto-san?" Dodai whispered. "I think that guy's blade had some poison on it. I'm not feeling so good."

"I see." He motioned for another stretcher for Naruto. "With this, the first round of the finals has ended. We will continue with the semi-finals within the next hour, to give the competitors time to rest and get checked on by our medic ninjas.

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> I wish I were in Japan right now. Kingdom Hearts 3D just came out a few days ago there and I want it. Oh well, leave a review, tell me what I did wrong and what not. Also vote in my pole.


	12. Semifinals

**Author's Note:** Here's the next chapter. Thanks to people who reviewed, liked, faved, etc. Sorry I'm a bit late on the whole thing. Been sick for the past week and couldn't write. I still need a beta reader btw. Oh well, read and review ne.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto at all.

* * *

><p>"I don't see anything wrong with you," the doctor told Naruto as he sat in the infirmary. "You must be just imagining things."<p>

"You sure, my arms and legs feel odd," Naruto answered. "Although, it's just a dull pain now."

"Maybe it's from utilizing some jutsus too much. I mean you may strain yourself when using all of your chakra." Naruto thought about it before nodding slowly.

"That makes sense I guess. Thanks doc." Naruto stood up from the examination chair and left the room, but not before stopping in front of Irouh's bed. Looking over at the pouch that the ninja had on him, the blond decided it was time to take what was his as their deal. Making a shadow clone, he ordered it to get the Uzumaki scroll from the pouch. The clone reached and found there was no trap. The clone looked through the scroll and reached the end and found no traps. The clone dispelled itself and when Naruto got the information he was surprised that the Iwa ninja would have the real scroll on him. "What an idiot." Turning around Naruto left the room and calmly walked back towards the waiting room where the rest of the semi-finalists were at. Placing the scroll in his bag, he walked down the hall. As he reached one, he saw a little girl who looked no older than five years old.. She was dressed in a red kimono and had black hair along with pink eyes. He walked up to the little girl and knelt down and smiled at her. "Hey there, are you lost?"

The girl tilted her head to the side before speaking. "You're the one who beat Deidara-nii," the girl said in an angry voice. Before Naruto could even formulate a response the girl kicked him in the shin. The blond screamed out in pain while the girl huffed. "Take that you big meanie!"

"Ow!" Naruto shouted as he grabbed his left leg. In the next second the little girl kicked his other shin, causing him to fall on his butt. "OW! Stop kicking me!"

"I'm taking revenge for Deidara-nii!" The girl went to go for a third kick but was stopped when a pair of hands grabbed her and lifted her up into the air. Naruto looked up to see his savior. It was a man with a red Iwa bandanna on his head. It covered most of his hair, but he could see bits and pieces of brown hair, with a growing beard. He had a red sleeveless shirt and black pants. His black eyes bore into those of the little girl. "Hey let me go!"

"Kurotsuchi, I leave you alone for a minute and you go off trying to beat up one of the contestants," the man sighed. He then looked at Naruto before bowing his head. "Sorry about that kid, my daughter got mad when she found out her friend got beat by some punk from Konoha. Name is Kitsuchi by the way."

"It's fine…I guess," Naruto replied.

"Well, I'll be taking my daughter back now. Now say sorry to the boy."

"No! I won't apologize to him!" Kurotsuchi whined. "He hurt Deidara-nii so he'll have to pay!" Kitsuchi sighed and shook his head. He put the girl over his shoulder to make sure she couldn't escape from him. As she struggled against her father, Kurotsuchi glared at Naruto. "You watch out you blond meanie! When I become a ninja I'll beat you up! I swear it!"

Naruto was still confused as he stared at the odd family from Iwa, after that he shook his head and turned to go meet up with Itachi. As he arrived in the participant waiting room, Naruto saw that Itachi was standing at one side of the room with the people from Kumo on the other. Walking over to his teammate, he leaned against the wall alongside him. "So what do you think of the our opponents?" the blond asked his partner.

"Don't know, much about them save for what we already know," Itachi replied. "Darui barely showed any skills, save for that odd kekkei genkai he has. Then there is Yugito, who is as you said jinchuuriki."

"How are you going to handle her?"

"I'm going to wing it." When Naruto heard that he scoffed. Itachi turned to his friend with a raised brow. "What was that noise for?"

"You winging it?" Naruto said with mock shock. "The master of plans going to wing things? You have a plan, and I know it."

"For one, I really don't have a plan. I am going to wing it."

"Just don't do anything stupid then."

"When have I done anything stupid?" Naruto rolled his eyes, but a smile appeared on his face none the less.

**(Team Darui)**

"Are you still angry?" Darui asked Yugito. The jinchuuriki was glaring at Naruto's group as they were speaking and looking at them at the same time.

"I'm just peachy," Yugito ground out.

"You're rather angry, and we're not meant to kill anyone. We're supposed to create relationships between other villages. If you kill the Uchiha, we may start a war. So try to hold back."

"Do you know how many people knew that I was a jinchuuriki?" When Darui didn't say anything, she continued. "Other than you, C and our sensei. Other than that it was only Killer B and the Raikage, and of course the villagers who hate me. But now, now three Konoha ninjas, if not more, know it. It was supposed to be a secret to other villages that I was a jinchuuriki. I'm not sure how to handle it other than killing them. It was the only option."

"Just….don't do anything stupid," he told her. "You're a teammate and dare I say it a friend. I don't want you getting hurt or anything of the sort, or punished for the matter." Yugito blinked at the younger boy who was still staring at Naruto's team.

"I'll try."

"Thanks."

(**Kage Box)**

"Are you going to stay for the semi-finals and finals of these matches Tsuchikage-sama?" A asked as he looked at his fellow Kage. Minato also turned to look at the old man.

"I am going to stay," Onoki replied calmly. This surprised the two other kages.

"Oh? Why do you say that Tsuchikage-sama?" Minato asked.

"I need want to see what happens after this." He looked at the two other Kages with a smile. "I want to see the battles and see what your kids have in store. Namely if it's a threat to my own village." The old man's eyes then turned towards the two Konoha ninjas. "Isn't it about time for the battles to begin?"

**(Battlefield)**

Itachi was calmly looking at Yugito as she glared at him. Dodai was looking at both of them. "Are you both ready?" the proctor asked.

"Hai," Yugito answered, while Itachi only nodded.

"Then begin!" As the fight started, Itachi pointed a finger at Yugito with his Sharingan spinning furiously. After that the jinchuuriki watched as the boy disappeared into a flock of crows.

"Genjutsus won't work on me." A burst of chakra came forth from her and the flocks of crows disappeared. After that, she looked around and saw her opponent was already running towards the lake. The brown haired girl ran after him. As she got closer, Itachi turned around for a second and sent a volley of kunais at her. As they neared her, Yugito heard the sound of burning and had to lunge to the side, making the blades miss their mark. When nothing happened after that, she looked at the kunai's and frowned. "They were only duds." Making an irritated noise, she turned and ran after Itachi once again. As she got closer to him, she knew that he'd hit the water before she'd reach him. So hoping to at least hinder him, she threw out her hand and a wave of blue fire shot out. Itachi did a hard left after he felt the heat approaching him and casually glanced at the explosion of the ground where he was previously. Not giving it a second thought, he kept on towards the water. As he approached the water, he was already doing hand seals. As he felt another wave of fire coming towards him Itachi shouted.

"S_uiton: Mizurappa_ (Water Release: Water Trumpet_)!_" Itachi took a deep breath and shot water out of his mouth, through his hand. It collided with the wave of blue fire, causing a column of steam. He then landed on the water as he did and was already going through more hand seals. "_Suiton: Suijinheki _(Water Release: Water Encampment Wall_)_!" Just as the large wall of water shot up, a large ball of blue fire hit it.

From where Yugito was standing, she was frowning. When the water wall came down, Itachi was no where to be seen. That made her frown. "Oh I am not falling for the same trick again!" she shouted. She jumped back away from the pond as far as she can, not wanting another sneak attack from underneath the water. As she got far away, she found a bunch of shuriken coming from the forest. "The hell?" she cried out. The she turned and saw Itachi throwing shuriken at her. She looked towards the water and then back towards the other Itachi. "Damn, he knows how to make solid clones?" she whispered to herself. "_Nezumi Kedama_ (Mouse Hairball)_!"_ Taking a deep breath she spat out several mice shaped balls of fire and they raced towards the one in the forest. The Itachi from the forest stared at the flames before running up the wall. "Which one is real?" The mice kept chasing the one on land, and Yugito was sure that the other one was still in the water. "Come out and show yourself, Konoha dog!"

A form started to emerge from the water after that exclamation. Slowly a mass of water started to tower high above the lake and took the form of a large dragon. It gave out a roar when it reached its peak. Yugito and others stared at the thing in shock. "How can a kid have that technique…" she muttered to herself. She was about to run away, but felt a pair of hands grab her feet. Looking down she saw that there was a pair coming out from beneath the ground. She tried to struggle out of it, but it pulled her knee deep into the dirt. She then heard something from underneath the water.

"_Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu_ (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique_)!" _She heard Itachi's voice shout out from underneath the water. She tried moving out to claw herself out of the dirt, before slapping herself on the forehead.

"_I could use Kawarimi,"_ she thought. Before she could move to do the hand seals though, she saw a felt a pair of hands grab her shoulders. She saw the other Itachi doing a handstand on her shoulders. As the seven year old landed on the ground, she felt that she was being lodged out of being encased by the earth probably using up all the chakra in the clone. She was wondering why the clone was freeing her, before she remembered what was chasing him. As the clone threw her into the air he held her arm, and the flaming hair projectiles closed in on her, while on the other side the large water dragon. There was a large explosion of steam when the two techniques hit, blocking out the view of the area. Slowly from the water of the pond, Itachi's face comes out, but stays mostly submerged. When he heard a thump, Itachi looked to see a body fall onto the floor, and waited. Then a deafening roar came out from where Yugito's body fell.

Blue flames burst from the steam and dispelled it. Yugito was standing, looking more feral than she ever has been. Her eyes turned from black to yellow and slitted. Her finger nails had extended into the claws they were when she went up against Fuu. Some blue flames were dancing around her body. She then ran forward, faster than last time. Itachi barely had time to fully submerge himself when she clawed the water. When she did, the water itself was blasted apart. This sent Itachi into the air due to the sheer force of the attack. He covered his face and chest with his arms, and felt searing pain coming from them. As he landed on the ground, he noted that there were long claw like streaks of blood coming from his arms. Itachi then looked up to see Yugito glaring at him. _'It seems as if Yugito-san is mad now. Her bijuu is acting up and it is making her fight more ferociously.'_ Itachi spared a glance at the Kage Box trying to see if they would do anything about it and looked at Dodai as well, but they made no move to stop the fight. This made him frown.

He blinked again and in that moment, Yugito was already heading towards him again. He dodged the attack, not wanting to get hit again. He wasn't surprised to see more blue flames going after him when he dodged. This made things a bit harder for him. The more she attacked, the more blue flames shot out from her hands. She got much closer to him after one sweep of her hands, and tried to claw at him once more but he dodged again. He lashed out with a kick to her abdomen, which barely did any damage. _'Almost out of chakra from those Suiton jutsus, and being cornered by my opponent. I have no choice but to use the move I created. I was hoping to save it for the match against Naruto, but I guess I have no choice but to use it now,'_ Itachi thought to himself. Judging that the distance between him and Yugito was not far enough for him to set up the technique he had, and estimating her speed, Itachi reached into his pouch and threw a smoke bomb on to the ground. Although that didn't deter Yugito at all as she just ran through the the smoke, roaring all the while. When she got inside the smoke screen, she couldn't seem to find Itachi.

"I'm over here," Itachi stated from outside the smoke. Yugito turned around and saw him in a taijutsu stance, waiting for her. The girl roared in fury and dashed towards him. As she closed the distance, she attacked with her right claw. Itachi raised up right arm to block and twisted his body at the same time. He then trusted his left arm outward, his left palm smashing against the girls chest. "_Aoi Arashi_ (Blue Storm)!" As the attack hit her, the back of her clothes burst and what seemed like a wave of wind passed through her. Yugito then fell to the ground coughing up blood, had a large bruise where Itachi had hit her and shortly fell to unconsciousness. After putting his arms down, Itachi clutched his left arm with his right. It was trembling profusely and showed several more cuts appearing on it. _'Damn...Still can't use it correctly and to it's true potential. Makes sense though, since I only had a month's worth of Fuuton training._'

"The winner of the match is Itachi Uchiha! Medical ninjas please take away the injured contestants!" Dodai exclaimed. He looked to Itachi asking if he wants a stretcher. The boy looked himself over, other than the self inflected injuries, he had long gashes on his arms and a few burns from the times he couldn't really escape Yugito's attacks. Itachi then nodded asking for his own stretcher. The team came over and put the unconscious Yugito on one stretcher and Itachi on another. "Will the next participants please come down?" Dodai asked when the injured were completely off the field.

**(With Naruto and Darui)**

Both boys looked at each other before taking their own routes towards the battlefield. Naruto jumping over the railing and Darui walking out the hallway.

**(Kage Box)**

"Why didn't you have the proctor stop the fight?" Minato asked A. "The fact they your jinchuuriki was going a bit berserk was a clear danger to those around."

"I wanted to see how the young Uchiha would handle that situation," A replied. "I expected him to give up after seeing that the girl was going mad with power, but I was surprised to see that he didn't even flinch at kept on the attack."

"Most people would have run from that," Onoki commented. "They would have ran away, hoping that they would survive the attack. But the young boy stayed. What does that say about him?"

"That he is foolish and hard headed?" A suggested.

"No...maybe a little...but it showed that he was adaptable to the situation. It also showed that he was able to think ahead. Do you think that in her anger, that Yugito girl would have stopped after the match was called. I recall that the Uzumaki boy had to interfere in the last match to stop her. It saved his teammate time and trouble by knocking her out himself." Onoki stroked his beard.

"I think it was stupid," A replied. Although inside A was agreeing, if it were him he'd fight something head on rather than ran away. "What are your thoughts on this Hokage-sama." Minato was too busy looking at Naruto as he waited for his opponent, but managed to snap out of it in a few seconds.

"No comment," Minato replied. "I'm not truly sure how to take that, but it gives I'll give him credit for being able to take the attacks of a demonic chakra enhanced girl. Also knocking her out in one hit, as well as trying that the entire time during the match." He then smiled at the two. "Let us watch the last of the semi-finals shall we?"

**(Battlefield)**

Dodai sighed as he looked at the two boys standing in front of him. One looked rather bored and didn't want to be there at the moment and the other had an excited look on his face. Two complete opposites from what he could tell right off the bat. "You two ready?" Dodai asked. Both Darui and Naruto nodded in response. "Then begin!" The proctor jumped away and was surprised that the two boy were just standing there looking at each other. After five minutes of doing nothing, which caused all the people to get irritated, some people in the crowd began to boo them.

"So...I take it you don't want to be here at the moment?" Naruto asked calmly, completely ignoring the people around him.

"I don't mind being here. I want to be a chunin after all. I just want this day to end already. I want to take a nap," Darui sighed.

"I agree, I just want to take a nap too."

"So why don't you just surrender?" both boys said at the same time. This caused the two of them to stop talking. Naruto was smirking, while Darui had a raised eyebrow.

"That was odd," the darker skinned boy replied.

"Yeah it was. So how about we settle this in a rather simple way then."

"How so?"

"_Jan-Ken-Pon (_Rock paper scissors)" This made Darui raise an eyebrow at Naruto.

"You're serious?"

"Yeah. We play rounds of that, each winner of the round gets to slug the opponent across the face." Darui put on a thoughtful expression before looking at Naruto again.

"It's sounds rather dull but I'll only agree to it if we don't use chakra and nothing below the belt." Naruto frowned, but nodded.

"Sure." Naruto and Darui met up in the middle of the battlefield. They both made fists and nodded their heads.

"Jan-Ken-Pon!" both boys shouted. They then splayed their choices to each other. Darui had paper and Naruto had rock. Darui reared his right arm back and punched Naruto across his cheek. Naruto then stared at him while rubbing the part that was hit.

"Wow, you pack a punch," Naruto complimented him. "This may turn out to be fun after all."

"Ready for round two?" Naruto nodded.

"Jan-Ken-Pon!" This time Darui had rock and Naruto had paper. Naruto smiled and smashed his fist into Darui's face. The Kumo ninja took an involuntary step back, while clutching his jaw.

"Okay...that hurt," Darui mumbled. "Let's keep going."

(**With Tsunade)**

"Is that kid serious?" Tsunade deadpanned. She face palmed after ten minutes of those two just trading punches after small matches of Janken. It was safe to say that most of the people watching were rather displeased at the two boys' choice of battle.

"I think he is," Jiraiya yawned. He may care for the boy, but even he thought this was boring.

"Well, you have to give credit to that Darui kid though," Tsunade muttered. "Being able the same age as Naruto and taking his hits like that. I've only seen Itachi take such a beating." Looking to her side, she saw that some people were starting to fall asleep due to how boring the fight was. Even Kushina was looking like she was about to doze off. Tsunade then turned back to the fight on the battlefield, hoping that it would get better soon.

**(Battlefield)**

"Jan-Ken-Pon!" the two boys threw out their hands again. Naruto had scissors and Darui had papers. Naruto smile. They had been going for about ten minutes, trading blows after these short little games. Naruto reared his arm back and smirked. When he threw his arm forward, he smashed it against Darui's face. When he did that, Darui was sent flying backwards, causing him to bounce along the ground once. "Hey buddy you alright?" Naruto asked looking at Darui. The boy shakily got up and glared at Naruto.

"I thought you agreed to no chakra," Darui stated.

"I did," Naruto replied. "But _Burakku Sheru_ doesn't use an ounce of chakra at all." Darui's eyes widened at that.

"You mean to tell me that those stances you do don't use chakra?"

"Not once bit." Darui sighed and looked at the sky before looking at Naruto again.

"Deal's off. No more no chakra business. Let's do this how it's really meant to be. It won't be as dull and I'll stand a better chance at beating you that way." Naruto opened his mouth to reply but was cut off when Darui shouted. "_Ranton: Reizaa Saakusu!_" A barrage of streaming lightning shot towards Naruto. Ducking left, Naruto dodged the attack then turned around to block it when it came back towards him. The force of the hit, had him being lifted upward but not strong enough to pushing far. The blond the turned around, drawing and caught Darui's fist. He raised his other arm to block the other punch. Pulling his head back, Naruto head butted Darui causing him to stagger backwards.

"This is what happens if I apply chakra to the stances. _Burakku Sheru!_" The blonde reared back his arm and punched. A small tornado burst forth from his fist and slammed into Darui. "_Baamirion Uingu_!" The ran towards his opponent, slammed his foot into the ground and swiped his foot across a small space trying to trip up Darui. The boy jumped back, but was surprised to find something coming out of the ground. A small cyclone erupted from it and hitting him back towards Naruto. "_Howaito Dans_u!" Naruto let loose a flurry of punches and kicks, each was seemingly cutting into Darui with each hit. After landing the combo, Naruto stretched his arms out then thrust both palms forward! "Buruu Sutoomu!" This time the technique wasn't like all the previous times it was used. No Darui, knew something was different about this move. The attack Naruto did was much more powerful. _"Buruu Sutoomu!" _Naruto shouted. Darui rushed through the hand seals he needed if he wanted to not get hit

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu!"_ The Kumo ninja replaced with himself with a log a few meters away. He looked at where Naruto had attacked and saw the damage. From his palms a violent wind had been shot out. The ground in front of the blond was eviscerated by the attack and the log that had replaced Darui was shattered into splinters. Naruto brought his arms to his arms to his sides took a deep breath and smiled at Darui, who was still looking at him with wide eyes. "That was your techniques with chakra?"

"Fuuton chakra to be specific." Darui stood up and wavered a bit, but was already doing hand seals. Reaching behind him the kumo ninja threw a kunai at Naruto. The blond tilted his head to the side to easily dodge the attack. He was surprised to see Darui switch himself with the flying kunai and appear behind Naruto. He caught his own kunai that flew past Naruto's head and tried to slash at the blond shinobi. Naruto ducked and punched behind him. Darui caught it and shouted.

"_Raiton: Jibashi!" _Electricity ran through Darui's hands and into Naruto's body. He was surprised when Naruto was laughing and not being shocked.

"Surprised ain't ya?" Naruto smirked. He then head butted Darui again, causing the boy to let go.

"Why were you not shocked?" the kumo ninja demanded.

"Who knows?" Naruto replied. Darui had to shake his head to gain his bearings. "Although I'm happy that you actually managed to hurt me. Not a lot of people our age could do that." Darui blinked and looked at Naruto. The hand that had electricity running through it, and it was spasming just a bit. "But let's end this shall we?"

"How do you plan on doing that?" Naruto smirked and disappeared in a yellow blur, appearing right in front of Darui. He was crouched down and did an uppercut. It may have been faint and lasted only a moment, but the moment Naruto did the attack Darui saw that the boy's arm was covered in electricity. Darui felt some bones crack when Naruto's fist impacted with his chest. He was sent flying into the air, however he was ignoring the pain right now. He wanted to hit Naruto at least. He gathered chakra after doing the ram seal and waited. His patience was reward when the blond jumped upward. When Naruto was only a few meters away, Darui shouted, "_Raiton: Kuropansa (_Lightning Release: Black Panther)!" The black lightning was shot out of his hands and took the shape of a panther. Naruto's eyes widened as the attack hit him. He was slammed into the ground by the attack. The lightning dispersed after a few minutes and Darui landed, hoping that the attack was enough to knock out and hopefully not kill the crowd were now at the edge of their seats, seeing as the boys had taken the battle to another level. Now they were all worried about the fate of the blond Konoha ninja. "Damn, that took out so much chakra. I just hope that guy is alright."

"Wow, you're worried." Darui's eyes widened, the lightning cleared along with the dust. Standing there was Naruto, his clothes were partially singed, there were a few burns on his body as well and black lightning was dancing around him. The lightning was barely noticeable, but since Darui was close buy he could see it. He looked at Dodai who had his jaw dropped. The lightning from around the blond then disappeared and Naruto smiled and cracked his neck.

"How do you know that?" Darui whispered.

"Who knows? Do you want to continue?" Naruto asked, looking at the tired shinobi in front of him. Darui looked at Naruto then shook his head.

"No, I surrender. I'm out of chakra" He turned to Dodai. "Hey, call the match. I surrender this battle." The older Kumo ninja nodded his head.

"The winner of the match is Naruto Uzumaki! Medics take the injured off the battlefield please," Dodai shouted. Naruto released the sigh he was holding in as he fell to the floor.

"Thank goodness," Naruto muttered. "I'm almost out of chakra too." Darui dropped his jaw at Naruto, before laughing. "Kami, even with blasting that last move of yours with a heavily underpowered _Buruu Sutoomu _and using that technique you saw, that hurt like hell. Hey can I go to the infirmary too?" The medics took both Naruto and Darui out of the battlefield, leaving the Darui on his own. Suddenly, another Kumo ninja appeared and whispered something into his ear. Dodai listened carefully and nodded his head.

"By Raikage's request, we are going to hold off the finals until tomorrow. This will give our finalists a chance to rest and recuperate. Please the arena for now, and return tomorrow. We will hold your seats for you so you do not need to buy tickets again. Thank you for coming to most of our chunin exams and please return for the conclusion tomorrow." Dodai nodded and he _Shunshin_-ed out of the ara. Slowly the arena was emptied. The kages had left to go discuss what had occurred in the office of the Raikage.

(**Infirmary)**

"You're a dumbass sometimes Naruto," Itachi shook his head. He was sitting on the bed next to Naruto's. The blond was chowing down on some ramen that he managed to unseal with a very small amount of chakra that he recovered. He was slurping it down with abandon. Across from them were the three members of Team Darui. Yugito was still unconscious, C was trying to hold in his lunch at watching Naruto massacre the bowl of ramen, and Darui was looking on with indifference. Naruto looked at his partner and shrugged.

"How can you stand him eating like that?" C gagged.

"You get desensitized to it after knowing him a few weeks," Itachi replied. Darui lied down and shook his head.

"You two guys are rather interesting to watch. One is calm, stoic and cool while the other was energetic, hyperactive and charismatic. Having you two around must make life less dull huh."

"You could say that." When Naruto finished eating he threw his bowl into the trash can.

"Hey no hard feeling between us right?" the blond asked the other team.

"We hold nothing against you," C replied with a smile. "Not sure about Yugito over there though. You finding out her secret made her really mad." The Kumo blond took a deep breath before speaking again, this time his tone was confused. "Hey, Yugito is right. You do smell like a cat." Darui and Itachi looked at Naruto, while the boy frowned and sniffed himself.

"I swear I took a bath today. I don't see how you guys keep saying I smell like a freaking cat. Unless, lion spit somehow manages to stay on you for a long time." The boys started talking about nothing in particular to fill in the silence of the room. To be honest they didn't find anything wrong with each other and were hitting it off. Their conversation however came to a halt when they heard voices coming from the hall.

"I'll knock your teeth in if you don't let me see that boy!" the voice of Tsunade came through from the other side. Naruto face palmed and Itachi sniggered

"Kami, Baa-chan can be so embarrassing sometimes." The doors bust open and two groups entered. One was Naruto's supporters and the other was Itachi's. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Yugao and Shizune stood by Naruto's bed; meanwhile, Fugaku, Mikoto and Shisui holding Sasuke were next to Itachi. Darui and C watched the interactions with interest.

**(With Naruto)**

"YEOW! Naruto shouted, the moment Tsunade came in she smacked him across the back of the head. "What was that for!"

"You scared us you idiot!" Tsunade shouted. "Do you know how much you got us worried after that black lightning thing hit you?"

"I do now. I have a lump on the top of my head, saying how much you're mad at me." The blond boy was rubbing the back of his head after the back of that hit.

"Congratulations Naruto-kun," Shizune smiled at him. The teenager gave the boy a hug. "You made it to the finals." She then whispered into his ear. "She may not show it but Tsunade-sama is happy that you made it this far." When she pulled away Naruto smiled at her and she blushed. Jiraiya walked up to Naruto and patted him on the back.

"Those were some great fights gaki!" the old pervert laughed. "I would have never thought you could make it this far!"

"Oh thanks for the support," Naruto replied sarcastically. This time the old sage leaned in.

"Hey, what were those moves you showed back there. I've never seen you do them before," he whispered.

"I'll tell you when we get home."

"I'm happy you made it to the finals Naruto," Yugao told the blond. Turning to his teammate, Naruto scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Heh, thanks Yugao-senpai." The girl smiled sadly back at him.

"I think you should stop calling me that. In a few short days you may be a higher rank than me. Then I'll be the one calling you senpai." Naruto scratched his head again, before he saw another figure walking up to him.

"Hey kid," Shisui greeted him.

"Sup Shisui," Naruto returned the greeting. "So what do you think of our fights?"

"You and Itachi are strong, stronger from when I last sparred against the two of you," the Uchiha smirked. "I swear you two are growing up so fast. You might make it into ANBU sooner or later if you go at this pace."

"Heh, maybe we will. Although, I hope you don't mind teaching us more stuff and hanging out Shisui. I mean you're one of the few Uchiha who don't have a stick up their-"

"Naruto, don't say that word," Tsunade interrupted him.

"I was going to say butt." The blond then turned back to the Uchiha teen. "So what are you up to? Have a girlfriend yet? I mean I haven't seen you in a month since you were always busy." That made Shisui balk at the answer.

"I...uh…" he stuttered.

"If you're wondering Shizune-nee is still single."

"NARUTO!" several people shouted.

"What?" the blond asked. Looking around, he saw a laughing Jiraiya and Tsunade, a blushing embarrassed Shizune, a glaring Yugao (still mad at them for embarrassing her in front of Hayate), and a very confused and flustered Shisui. Hearing some giggling, he saw Mikoto laughing at the scene, Fugaku looking at them with a raised eyebrow and Itachi shaking his head.

"Um...I don't like Shizune-san in that way. She is a good comrade nothing more."

"I agree," Shizune nodded her head furiously. "Besides I like someone else…" she whispered, that barely anyone caught it.

"Whatever you guys say." Naruto was then surprised to see the Uchiha contingent walk over to him. Yugao also took this time to greet and congratulate Itachi.

"Mikoto-sama, Fugaku-sama it is nice to meet you," Naruto bowed his head.

"Good job today Naruto-kun. You make me proud to be your sensei," Mikoto complimented him. The blond smiled and nodded his head in thanks. He then looked at Fugaku who was looking back at him with a calculating look. Suddenly he bowed down to Naruto to greet him.

"I finally remember you. I was wondering why you seemed so familiar to me then it hit me. During the battles I had not recognized you at all. It's good to see you again Naruto. It was hard to recognize you after you changed your name." Naruto nodded his head.

"Sorry about that." Fugaku waved his hand.

"Do not fret Naruto. I want to thank you for being my son's teammate and rival. He needs a strong person to push him along, and you're a good person to do it." He then turned to Mikoto and nodded out the door. "We are going to return to our hotel room now. It is good to see you again Naruto. Itachi, rest up your fight tomorrow against this boy will be a hard one, if he's anything like his father." Almost everyone in the room tensed at that. The Uchiha patron nodded to him and left the room, with Mikoto smiling at them and waving her hand. Shisui stayed a bit longer shaking his head.

"Man, he gave you two compliments today. I can't believe it. Him giving a non-Uchiha a compliment twice in the same day," Shisui said a bit dazed. He turned to his two surrogate brothers on their beds. "Well, I have to go. Rest up guys, and be prepared for a good fight tomorrow." After that, he too left.

"Well, we got to go too. We're going to get dinner," Jiraiya stated. "See you around kid." After that they turned to leave but Tsunade stopped at the door.

"Oh and I'm sorry Kushina couldn't greet you Naruto. Minato called her to talk about something," Tsunade informed the blond boy. Naruto nodded his head in acceptance and sighed. When the group left. Things were quiet for a bit before someone cleared their throat. Looking up, Naruto saw that C and Darui were looking back at them.

"You have a weird family," Darui stated.

"Who? Me or him?" Naruto pointed at himself then Itachi.

"You do," C replied. "How do you know two out of the three sannin?"

"Oh they take care of me."

"Kami, that must explain why you're so strong. Being trained by two of the sannin. You must feel special huh?"

"HAH!" Naruto laughed. "Ero-sensei barely teaches me anything and Baa-chan is busy teaching Shizune medical stuff than she has time to teach me. My power comes from me training on my own or with Itachi over there." From that moment on, the boys kept talking well into the night, even when the hospital dinner was served to them. Although at one point, Naruto had to chain Yugito again after she woke up. She tried to attack both of them, and Naruto had recovered enough chakra to produce his sealing chains. So that night they stayed up just talking and getting to know each other better. Although, Yugito wouldn't speak and just glare at the two boys, especially Naruto who had chained her to the bed. When it was time to sleep, Naruto and Itachi laid on their beds, thinking about the next day to come. The day where they would prove which one of them was better in front of the world.

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><p><strong>Author's End Note: <strong>There is the chapter. Review please. I want to know what I did wrong. Also check out my one shots, then vote on the poll which one you want for me to be a second story. I already have a third story due to a challenge I took up that I'm willing to write...I'm rambling aren't I? Well go on with your bad selves.


	13. VS

**Author's Note:** Again, thanks for everything guys. I would have pm-ed you if I thought your review needed to be addressed personally. Also I really need a beta. Anyone willing to help me out? Anyway here's the new chapter. The battle between the Itachi and Naruto enjoy.

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><p>"What are you doing up and about so early in the morning Naruto?" Itachi asked as he joined the blond in the stadium seats high above the battlefield. It was six in the morning, and the sun hadn't even broken free of the clouds yet. The blond was just sitting back staring out at the field with an jovial smile on his face. He looked at his partner and friend in almost all things.<p>

"What I'm doing out is nothing really. I just wanted to catch some fresh air," the blond responded with a small smile on his face. The two sat in silence for a couple of moments before Naruto spoke again. "Can't you believe it Itachi? Later on today, we'll be out there facing each other in battle, in front of three Nations. Makes you a little excited huh?"

Itachi nodded and had a smile on his face too. "Yeah, proving our worth might be fun." The two kept quiet, odd for Naruto, enjoying their time. "No holding back?"

"No holding back." Naruto stood up and stretched his arms. "Let's go get some breakfast and then prepare yeah?"

"Hai." Itachi stood up too. They then both looked at each other and had to blink. Something was off when they looked at their best friend. When Naruto was looking at Itachi he saw an older version of him. He was donning a high collar cloak that was black and had red clouds on it. His face was stoic as ever and he had a fully mature Sharingan active But what surprised him most was his forehead protector. It had a cut through the village symbol.

When Itachi looked at Naruto he saw something similar. This Naruto was older and his hair was a bit longer too, but there was a few red streaks in his hair. He was wearing a burnt orange shirt under a long white leather coat and black pants. In his hand was a white curved blade, looking a lot like a feather. On the bicep of his left arm was a Konoha forehead protector, while on his head was another forehead protector, one that had a spiral inside a circle: the symbol for the destroyed village of Uzushiogakure. This one still had cocky smirk. Both boys blinked at the same time. When they looked at each other again, they saw their usual selves. When they went to breakfast, neither of them spoke of the odd premonition they both had at the same time. After breakfast, the two separated to prepare themselves for their match.

(**Stadium Hours Later)**

The stadium was once again filled with people. Many of them were disappointed that the Kumo ninjas were out of the runnings since they were the ones that holding the exams, but none the less they were here to watch what would happen. Two boys, seven years old and a lot younger than most of the competitors no less, were in the finals. Both from the same village, both from the same team and both showing amount of strength most wouldn't be able to in their young age. It was safe to say that many people were surprised about the result, but were anticipating the battle that would happen in the next few minutes.

Yugao, who was sitting next to Naruto's group once again felt a bit conflicted. She really didn't know who to root for in this match. Two of her friends would be fighting each other and that made her confused. "Just cheer for both of them," a voice whispered in to her ear. Turning to the side, she finally noticed that she was sitting next to Kushina Namikaze.

"H-How did you know I was having a hard time choosing who to root for Namikaze-sama?" Yugao asked.

"It was pretty easy to guess. Both of your friends are up there, wanting to fight and it makes you have to decide who you want to cheer for. Why not both? They are your friends right? Win or lose, that won't change anything." Yugao thought about it, before enthusiastically nodding her head.

"Thank you Namikaze-sama," Yugao said with a smile. Kushina smiled back before laughing a bit.

"Please stop with the 'Namikaze-sama' bit, it gets a bit tiring. You can call me Kushina if you want." Yugao blushed in embarrassment before nodding her head again.

"Okay, Kushina-sama."

(**With the Uchiha's)**

"I wonder how this match will go?" Mikoto mumbled to herself. She had Sasuke in her lap as she thought of this. Her two students, her son and one she considered a son, were about to face off. She hasn't seen them train the entire past month and was unsure of their skills. She knew her boys were strong, but how strong was the question.

"Itachi will surely win," Fugaku replied as he crossed his arms. "He's an Uchiha, but Naruto will give him a run for his money. He is that man's son after all."

"I'm still a bit shocked you complimented someone that wasn't an Uchiha," Shisui muttered under his breath. "I believe that this match will result in a tie Fugaku-sama." When the Uchiha patron turned and looked at the ANBU member he smiled at him cleared his throat. "I've known these two for such a long time and would be able to guess how strong each of them has gotten. The problem with this is that they are each other's antithesis. Itachi is weaker in taijutsu compared to Naruto and Naruto is weaker in genjutsu. They have their own styles that would put them on even terms with each other. Not only that they are on the same terms when it comes to ninjutsu. So these two will probably fight to a draw on those conclusions."

"Are you sure about this?" Fugaku asked as he looked at Shisui. The boy nodded.

"I've trained both boys to a certain amount, and I know Itachi has been training to meet up to be on par with Naruto at taijutsu. If this is true, Naruto must have done a bit of genjutsu training as well." Shisui stopped talking and looked at the battlefield, before speaking again. "You could say that they are each other's fail safe if anything goes wrong, and one of them goes rouge."

"I see…"

**(With Team Darui)**

Since the three people in the team where taken out of the finals they were sitting in the stands just like everyone else. The three of them were anticipating the matches as well. The boys in the team were able to make friends with Itachi and Naruto, while Yugito was still a bit wary of them namely since they knew she was a jinchuuriki. That was why she was frowning at the moment. "You need to lighten up," C said from her side.

"Why should I?" Yugito huffed.

"Naruto-san and Itachi-san aren't bad people."

"If you keep that attitude, you'll dull out your sense of trust," Darui sighed. "Just be happy they are willing to keep your secret."

"How do we know we can trust them?" Yugito growled. "How do we know they are trust worthy enough?"

"We slept in the same room as them when we were all injured. They didn't do anything to us, well except you since you were still pretty mad at them. In that moment those two would have been able to kill us if they wanted to, but they didn't. I say it is safe to trust them." Yugito mumbled something under her breath after Darui's speech, but only crossed her arms in defiance to what he said. Darui sighed at the stubbornness his teammate was showing at trusting the two boys, especially since they were kind people and really didn't treat her any different than they did anyone else after they found out. After releasing another sigh, his mind slowly went back to the conversation he had with Naruto the night before, but stopped shortly when the crowd started to quiet down.

(**With Deidara)**

"I thought you would have went home after you lost Deidara," Kitsuchi stated as he and Kurotsuchi sat down next to the blond bomber.

"Hn? Well, I'm here to see just how strong my previous opponent is. If he was strong enough to be me and go after Irouh right after that, he must be really strong hn," Deidara replied.

"He's not strong at all! I kicked him in the shin and he fell to the floor!" Kurotsuchi bragged to her 'nii-san.' Deidara smirked and patted her head.

"That's good to hear, but I think the reason that happened was you got the drop on him. Plus he didn't see you as a threat." The bomber then turned back to the battlefield, and saw that the proctor walked onto it. "Unlike me and the boy he is going to fight now, that Naruto kid will probably be on guard for this battle. Hn, this is going to be interesting."

**(Kage Box)**

The three Kages were waiting for the battle to begin in silence. Onoki was sitting silently, waiting to see what the blond haired kid would do. A was also silent, wanting to know just how strong the two boys would do. Minato was speculating what will happen, especially since Kushina was excited since Naruto was in the match. She had gotten attached to the boy, their son which is unknown to her, and he was worried that the seal was starting to become undone. The reason he thought of this was because she wouldn't stop talking about him the night before and there were cracks appearing on the seal. Now he wouldn't be able to fix it since he had burned the array for the seal after placing it so Kushina wouldn't get suspicious about him. Whatever the case, he'd have to think about it later. Both Naruto and Itachi had entered the battlefield.

**(Battlefield)**

Naruto and Itachi were walking towards each other, to the center of the battle field.. They were still in similar clothes they wore all the time: Itachi wearing a black high collared shirt with black shorts, and Naruto had an orange shirt under a black jacket with black pants. This time however, they both had swords on their backs. Dodai watched as the two boys approached until they stood right in front of him and each other. When he was sure that Itachi and Naruto were ready to begin he spoke into his mic.

"Ladies and gentle. We gather here today to see a grand fight. A battle between the two strongest genin in their days. Two boys who are younger than most and are able to overcome every opponent they had to stand at this stage. Now here we are here to see the boys battle at the chuunin exam finals!" Dodai exclaimed. This led to the crowd to cheer and clap. Naruto and Itachi rolled their eyes at the theatrics. "Our two finalists today are Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki of Konohagakure! Are you two read-?"

"Hold up," Naruto interrupted. "You got the introduction wrong."

"Excuse me?"

"He said you have the introduction wrong," Itachi repeated. "At this moment, Naruto and I are not battling for Konoha."

"WHAT!" was the shout everyone let out at the same time. In the Kage Box, Minato looked shocked at what the boys said. Were they going rogue? Dodai was looking at them and noticed something different about them. Itachi, who had his forehead protector usually on his forehead, only had a black headband there. As for Naruto, he had on a pair of goggles on his forehead, and his forehead protector was also missing.

"Hell, our family names don't matter in this match," Naruto said. "In this fight, nothing else matters."

"This fight has nothing to do with our village or families, and to be perfectly honest, this fight has nothing to do with the exams." Itachi continued. That caused several people to drop their jaws.

"All that matters in this fight is to see who is stronger from the two of us!" both boys exclaimed. Naruto smirked at Dodai at spoke again. "So if you would please repeat our introduction again." Dodai, still shocked at the exclamation the two boys made, slowly nodded his head.

"The battle between Naruto and Itachi is about to start? Are you two ready?" The two boys nodded. "Then begin!"

Naruto sighed before reaching into his pocket and taking out a coin. "Heads or tails Itachi?"

"Tails," Itachi replied. The blond tossed up the coin high into the air and the two waited for it to hit the ground. As it did, both boys watched it as it began to spin, and come to a stop. It landed on tails. Suddenly, Itachi was already in front of Naruto and his fist was about to connect to his face. Naruto ducked and the punch sailed right over his head. The blond then retaliated with his own punch, which was caught by Itachi. Naruto's lip was then set in a line when he felt himself suddenly assailed by a storm of fire.

" Genjutsu KAI!" Naruto shouted as he released a large amount of chakra to over come the illusion that Itachi set on him. The flames disappeared but several shuriken were heading his way. Itachi who was already a couple of meters away was preparing his next move.

"_Raigen Raikochu (_Lightning Illusion: Flash of Lightning)!" Itachi shouted.

**(With Darui)**

"Hey! He stole my jutsu!" C shouted.

"He is an Uchiha after all," Darui commented. "He'd be able to copy jutsu's easily."

**(Battlefield)**

Naruto shut his eyes due to the extremely bright light but did his own hand seals to do a jutsu. "_Fuuton: Harukaze Miyabi (_Wind Release: Spring Wind Elegance)!" A large dome of wind, not visible to most other people, covered a large area around Naruto. Itachi, with his Sharingan on, was able to see trace amounts of Fuuton chakra in the wind and that the dome fitted the entire battlefield. Naruto's hand reached out and grabbed all the shuriken and opened his eyes after a few seconds. The wind dome disappeared and Naruto threw back the shuriken. Itachi was able to dodge all of them.

It was in that instant that Naruto closed the distance between the two and lashed out with a punch. _"Burakku Sheru!_" Naruto shouted. Itachi was able to predict the trajectory of the attack and put his arms up to block. That didn't stop the fact that the attack hurt. Itachi was flung back a meter or so. This caused him to frown.

'_It's far stronger than I thought. Even more so then when I had Shisui-nii try to recreate it,'_ Itachi mused. He stopped his thoughts when Naruto landed right in front of him after a jump.

"_Baamirion Uingu!_" Itachi slammed his foot into the ground at the same time Naruto did for his technique. He made a half-circle with his foot just as Naruto did as well. When he did that, he didn't lose his balance at all. This made the blond smile. "Oh my, it seems as if you found something interesting didn't you? You saw through the four stances huh?"

"Hn, if you say so," he replied back. This caused the blond to smile even more.

"_Howaito Dansu!"_ The blond then began his melee assault against Itachi.

"I'm not going to back down even if it is a taijutsu fight." Itachi charged forward and started to fight back as well. The two were landing attacks on each other. Each time Naruto landed a punch, Itachi did too. When Itachi did a kick, Naruto would retaliate in the same way. So for about a minute the two were just in a complicated melee. They stopped when they kicked each other away. There was already visible damage on the two boys. Itachi had bruises and a cut lip. The same could be said for Naruto, although instead of a cut lip there was some blood coming from his nose.

"You just had to aim for my nose didn't you?"

"Your point?"

"It hurt!" Naruto blurred out of view for a moment and suddenly reappeared before Itachi, with both of his arms pulled back.

"_It's coming!"_ Itachi thought. Naruto thrusted out his arms, with his palms outward. As he did this, Itachi jumped and spun backwards before reaching his right arm out towards Naruto. Both boys didn't touch each other but shouted their techniques at the same time.

"_Buruu Sutoomu/Aoi Arashi (_Blue Storm, yes both moves are called Blue Storm)!" After Itachi landed ,he jumped back just in case if Naruto was about to attack again. A few seconds ticked by before both boys fell down to their knees and coughed out blood.

**(Naruto's Group)**

"What just happened?" Yugao shrieked. "Why are they bleeding like that? Are both of them trying to kill each other!"

"I think they are," Jiraiya stated. "It seems like they wanted to go all out on each other and this is what is going to happen due to it."

"Those stupid brats," Tsunade mumbled.

**(Battlefield)**

"Hehehehe, HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto laughed, even though he was coughing up some blood. "You are scary partner, very scary. How many times has it been? Three? Four times you've seen that move and yet you've managed to complete a counter so easily."

"Easily?" Itachi questioned, he stood up just as Naruto did and spat out a wad of blood. "It wasn't easy. I had to replay all the moves you did over and over in my head tirelessly trying to find its weakness. It was rather annoying." Naruto started to walk towards Itachi, who was walking backwards. "The way I saw your techniques: _Burakku Sheru, Baamirion Uingu _and _Howaito Dansu_ was that they were all different moves, but I was wrong. Those three weren't three separate moves, they were a sequence of moves. One that leads to the other all setting up for _Buruu Sutoomu_. You contort the wind around your body using the three previous moves and blow it all towards your opponent during the palm thrust."

"Like I said, pretty scary. I have to say though, that move you did was interesting. You jumped up and spun in the air to redirect the wind I shot out back towards me. Although, from the looks of things you can't redirect everything." Naruto laughed again. "Although I'm surprised I your jutsu didn't affect me that much. Is it still incomplete?" Itachi spat out blood before taking a deep breath.

"_Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (_Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu)!" Itachi shot out a large ball of flames towards Naruto.

"_Raiton: Gian (_Lightning Release: False Darkness)!" Naruto put his arm out and a blast of lightning was shot out of his palm. The two techniques collided and exploded in the space between the two boys. Naruto ran into the smoke and threw several kunais through. Itachi dodged them as they came out of the smoke and blocked the fist that was coming towards his stomach. The black haired boy then disappeared into a flock of crows, leaving the other boy rolling his eyes. "Genjutsu Kai!" When the illusion fell, Naruto was saw Itachi near the pond once again.

"_Suiton: Mizurappa (_Water Release: Water Trumpet)!" Itachi shot out a stream of water towards Naruto. The blond was already in the process of counter attacking.

"_Fuuton: Shinku Taigyoku (_Wind release: Vacuum Great Sphere)!" Taking a deep breath, Naruto compressed the air into a great ball and shot it out of his mouth. Again the two moves clashed and canceled each other out. Both boys were panting using multiple elemental jutsus one right after the other and after taking a serious injury.

**(Kage Box)**

"Your boys are rather good Hokage-sama," Onoki complimented. "At their young age, they are able to utilize those moves. Rather scary considering that we are in an era of peace. Boys wielding that much strength will be a problem later."

"It is not like I'm the ones teaching them that. I cannot really control those boys when they do their own thing," Minato casually replied.

"Whatever you say those two boys are strong," A complimented. All of the Kages' bodyguards nodded their heads at the compliment.

**(Battlefield)**

Itachi was going through another set of hand seals as Naruto charged again. _'I wonder what he is doing?'_ Naruto asked. Silently he turned on _Harukaze Miyabi_ just to be ready for anything.

"_Doton:Doryuso (_Earth Release: Earth Flow Spear)!"Itachi shouted as he slammed both fists into the earth. That made Naruto's eyes widen. He stopped himself a split second before an earthen spike shot out of the ground. He was forced to jump into the air as another spike was sent his way. He was surprised when Itachi shouted another technique. _"Doton: Doryuheki (_Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall)!" A large stone wall appeared had erupted behind Naruto interrupting his jump, but Itachi wasn't done yet. _"Katon: Housenka no Jutsu (_Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu)!" Several fireballs were no headed towards Naruto midair.

"_SHIT!" _the blond thought as both the earth spike and the fire came near him. _"No choice! Have to use those jutsus even though they are no where near complete!"_ As the attacks came closer, Naruto did three hand seals. _"Ranton: Meteo Tornedo (_Storm Release: Meteor Tornado *Note this is written in Katakana, so it is like when a Japanese Native tries to say both of those words*)!" A large amount of electricity flowed around Naruto's left leg and he did a round house kick. The earth spike was broken and the fires were extinguished as he kicked them. The trail his leg traveled, had left a small path of light showing that the lightning was there just a couple of seconds ago. As Naruto landed onto the ground, he saw several shocked faces, however if Itachi was surprised he didn't show it.

**(With Team Darui)**

"Darui...how does he have your kekkei genkai?" Yugito asked as C was speechless as well when he saw the move happen. The boy was silent for the most part. He didn't know either, but the small conversation the two had that morning made sense now.

***Flashback***

"Hey Darui-san," Naruto greeted as he sat down with the boy for breakfast.

"Naruto-san. Shouldn't you be preparing?" Darui drawled out.

"I just need to bathe. Other than that I'm pretty much good."

"I see." The two were eating in silence for a few seconds before Naruto spoke up again. "Hey by any chance...does everyone in your family have your kekkei genkai?"

"No. It skips every generation. My father didn't have it, but my grandfather did and now I do too."

"Really now…" The blond went quiet again, but only for a second. "Are there anyone missing from your family or at least like relationships you don't know of? Children from outside the family so to speak?" Darui thought about it, he thought of if he has any missing any family members.

"Now that I think about it, my grandfather's cousin went missing during the Second Ninja War."

"Okay. Lastly, do you think you can explain to me like two Ranton jutsus?"

"Why?"

"Just curious," Naruto replied.

"Not going to use it against me are you?" Darui asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No...unless were asked to fight specifically each."

"Alright then. Not sure how this will help you, but I'll explain a few techniques."

***Flashback End***

"Who knows really?" Darui answered Yugito's question with his own.

**(Battlefield)**

"You have a kekkei genkai?" Itachi asked.

"Nope," Naruto replied curtly. The boy then slammed his fist into the ground and several sealing chains caught Itachi as they burst forth from the soil. "I have two." Suddenly, Itachi was covered by a plume of smoke and was replaced by a log. Naruto felt something moving through the wind of his _Harukaze Miyabi_ and ducked. Itachi's wakizashi flew right over his head and Naruto drew his own after getting ready. Good thing he did too, for when he got up he had blocked the attack Itachi did. "Why so serious?"

"You're rather serious too," Itachi replied during their deadlock. "You just don't show it the right way." Naruto shoved Itachi off and blurred out of sight. Itachi waited for it and dodged to the right. That actually surprised Naruto, who showed it on his face as he jumped away. Naruto narrowed his eyes before frowning.

"Seems like I'm not the only one who has 'evolved' in the past few hours huh?" Naruto asked as he stood up. Itachi glared at him, his Sharingan ablaze. "Just yesterday, you only had two tomoe each. Now, your's is fully mature."

"So you noticed that as well." The spinning stopped in his eyes to reveal a red eye with three tomoe around the pupil.

"Well, damn. This is going to be annoying now." Naruto blurred again and Itachi turned his head to the right before jumping to the right. He then stabbed behind him, but the sound of metal meeting metal was heard. "How are you able to read my movements?"

"Whatever you are doing, it is still incomplete. Still sloppy enough for me to see some hints of Raiton chakra in your movements. I just have to know which way you move." Itachi moved back and went for a slash. Naruto parried the move and punched Itachi in the face. When the blond went to slash at him in return, Itachi jumped away.

"Get over here!" Naruto threw his arm out and shot a chain made out of chakra. It clamped down on his opponent's neck, before Naruto pulled hard. Itachi was jerked forward and saw Naruto about to punch him. Twisting himself in midair Itachi kicked Naruto's head just as Naruto punched Itachi. The hit to the head was enough for Naruto to stop his concentration on his chains and breaking them. The two leapt away from each other after that to catch their breaths.

**(Deidara's group)**

"These two boys are rather flashy hn," Deidara muttered.

"But they have nothing on your art Deidara-nii!" Kurotsuchi stated.

"Kurotsuchi, be quiet. This is a very interesting match right now," Kitsuchi told his daughter. "I'm very sure Deidara is trying to watch as well."

"But-" The girl turned to her 'nii-san' and saw that he was solely focused on the match at hand. She then pouted, and saw that no one was looking at her.

**(Battlefield)**

Naruto reached into his back pocket and threw a smoke bomb onto the floor. Itachi glanced behind him and noted that he was still near the pond. He then saw a kunai with an explosive tag fly out of the smoke. Knowing he had to move, Itachi leapt to the side but was surprised when he was hit by a beam of light. He landed on the land right next to the water and found himself standing straight up. His hands were still free but he was bound by something. "_Ranton: Tenmou (_Storm Release: Heaven's Net)!" Naruto stated as the smoke cleared. "Again, like all my other Ranton techniques, it is still incomplete."

"_Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu (_Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation)!"Itachi shouted. From underneath Naruto a pair of hands shot out and tried to grab him. Naruto jumped back when the hands appeared, but frowned. He never saw Itachi make a clone at all. His eyes then widened at the realization.

"Genjutsu Kai!"Naruto shouted. He saw that the ground had no holes what so ever. When he landed, he saw Itachi was flashing so fast through several hand seals. "Damn." Naruto knew he wouldn't have to move across the field, even with _Raiton no Yoroi (_Lightning Release Armor), not by the time Itachi would finish his jutsu. Naruto held his wakizashi in his right arm and then grabbed the blade with his left. Blue chakra started to surround Naruto's entire body as he did this.

**(Naruto's group)**

"I told him not to use that move!" Kushina shouted. This caught the eye of everyone around her.

"What do you mean Kushina-sama?" Shizune asked.

"No matter how many times we practiced that move, Naruto never got it down. He'd put too much chakra into the second part of the attack and it would blow up in his face," Kushina explained. "He'll hurt himself more than he will Itachi." The red haired woman saw that Naruto kept gathering more and more chakra into his body and the blade as he focused his attack. "Wait? Why is he overloading this part now? What is Naruto-kun doing?"

**(Battlefield)**

"_That's enough chakra!"_ Naruto mentally shouted.

"_Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu (_Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet)!" Itachi shouted. A large water dragon appeared from the pond behind him and hovered in the air before speeding towards Naruto.

"_Koutei no Ryuu: Senten Tsuki (_Emperor's Style: Whirling Thrust)!" Now something weird happened with Naruto. The large amount of chakra exploded from Naruto and two blue wings made out of chakra appeared around him.

**(Naruto's Group)**

"What the?" Yugao mumbled, surprised to see the wings.

"Did this happen back then too?" Shizune asked, mesmerized by the move. She and every spectator watched as the wings shattered like glass and several feathers floated before pointing themselves towards Itachi.

"No it didn't, but...this is the first time I've seen something like this happen to happen," Kushina explained. She knew the nature of the technique and knew those feathers were not feathers but wind blades. When the blond thrust his blade the wind blades flew and collided with the on coming water dragon. Surprisingly the attack didn't explode. What happened was the blades were whirling rapidly clashing with the dragon. Kushina turned to Naruto who put away his sword and charged more chakra. A blue aura covered the dragon and a similar one happened to his leg. Naruto then dashed forward and jumped. The air blades began spinning faster, and suddenly Naruto disappeared. The blades sliced through the dragon and appeared in front of Itachi. Naruto suddenly reappeared right in front of him with several blades still around him. Itachi created a clone in front of him and when Naruto smashed it, the clone exploded. Both Naruto and Itachi were thrown out of the smoke, both looked burnt, bloody and were unconscious. Everyone watched as Dodai ran up to the boy and checked them out.

"GET A STRETCHER HERE! BOTH BOYS ARE IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE!" the proctor shouted. There was a large gasp and suddenly stretchers were being brought in. Tsunade stood up and ran towards the infirmary, with Shizune on her heels and Jiraiya after them. Kushina looked on still in shock. Seeing Naruto like that made her feel shocked in such a way that she couldn't explain. She was worried beyond belief for the boy. The boy she only spent about a month with. She couldn't explain why but something in her was telling her that she needed be at his side. She looked to the side and saw Yugao pointing towards the halls and Kushina stood up following her. She also noted that Mikoto, Fugaku, Shisui and Sasuke were all hurrying to the infirmary too.

**(Tsunade and Everyone Else)**

"Get out of my way!" Tsunade bellowed as she plowed through several of the medical ninjas of Kumo. She went to the bed side and saw just how badly injured Naruto was. Itachi was in the same condition. "Shizune start helping out Itachi over there! Have other medical ninjas help you!" Shizune nodded and went to work. Tsunade then turned to the Kumo ninjas. "You get me supplies! I need blood packs for both boys, pain killers and I'll ask for more things if things are needed!" She then turned to another guard. "Make sure no one comes through those doors we do not want anyone bothering us!"

"Why the hell should we listen to you?" a ninja asked.

"Because she is a Sannin and needs help," A commanded as he entered the room. "My people are at your command, Tsunade-hime."

"Thank you."

**(With Naruto)**

As this was all happening, Naruto was swimming in and out of unconsciousness. He saw Tsunade standing over him and people working away on something, shouts could be heard. _'Kami she's being bossy again,'_ Naruto blearily thought. The seven year old was blinking. She heard her shouting something. _'What is she saying?'_

"N-R-O!"

"NAR-O!"

"Naruto…"

"Naruto!"

(**TIME SKIP)**

"NARUTO!" A pair of blue eyes snapped opened and the owner of those eyes shouted.

"GAH!" The person sat up from their bed. It was none other than Naruto, save he looked older. His hair reached down to his chin now and he had lost most of his baby fat on his face, making it more angular. He was shirtless and showed off his growing six pack and the muscles on his arms. He turned his head towards the source of the thing that woke him up, a slap to the cheek, and frowned. Tsunade was standing above him with a smirk on her face. "Why'd you slap me?" Naruto demanded.

"You have a mission to go to. An ANBU captain should be punctual for their meetings."

"Co-Captain, Obaa-chan, Co-captain. Itachi will be there before I will be." Naruto stood up and revealed that he was only in boxers. "Besides I'm thirteen, I get to be late sometimes."

"Whatever brat, just be sure to say goodbye to Shizune before you leave. You know how much she worries about you."

"She worries about me like she was my wife or something," Naruto mumbled under his breath. As he stood up he grabbed his uniform from a closet and walked to the bathroom. The blond stopped in front of mirror to look himself over. Over the past five years, the boy now stood around 5'5", was slightly more tanned than he was and was more muscular. Other than that nothing much had changed. Although there was something new on his body. There, on his left breast, was a scar. A scar that was given to him during his battle with Itachi, all those years ago at the Chunin exams. When Naruto looked at it, he always thought it looked like the right wing of a bird. Giving an amused scoff, Naruto walked into the bathroom and got ready.

The blond stepped out of the bathroom fully dressed in his ANBU gear. He had on a black skin tight sleeveless shirt and black ninja pants. Over it was a soft grey armor. On his hands were black gloves that went past his elbows and guards over them. He also had black ninja sandals on his feet. Attached to his waist was a white porcelain mask in the shape of a lion's face. Strapped across his back was a katana and tied around his forehead was his forehead protector..

Naruto grabbing a scroll from the top of his drawer, closed the door to his room. He then walked down stairs to the first floor into the kitchen where he met up with Shizune. She too had grown over the years, now a woman of twenty-three. She had on a bluish-black kimono held around by a white obi. Opened toed sandals with heels were on her feet. The woman was busily humming a tune as she made breakfast. He smiled at her back before heading towards the back door. "I'm heading out Shizune-nee!"

"Aren't you going to eat breakfast first?" the woman shouted.

"I'll get some one the way to HQ!" She watched as the boy disappeared using a lightning Shunshin.

"That boy is energetic as ever." Shizune then frowned. "I wish he'd find more time to spend breakfast with me though."

"Then just tell him you love him!" Tsunade shouted from upstairs. Shizune was suddenly blushing up a storm.

"Tsunade-sama!"

(**With Naruto)**

Naruto appeared in front of ANBU headquarters. The blond wasn't surprised to see someone standing against the doorway. It was none other than Itachi. He, just like Naruto, barely changed physically over the course of five years. He too grew in height, being the same as Naruto. His hair was now put into a small ponytail. Itachi was dressed in the exact same way as Naruto, but had a porcelain mask of a weasel instead of a lion. Itachi opened one eye and raised an eyebrow at his partner. "What took so long?" he asked as he pushed off the wall.

"A dream," Naruto replied with a sigh.

"Dreaming about your girlfriend again?" Itachi teased.

"Yukie-chan is not my girlfriend! I swear I visit her once a month and people think she's my girlfriend."

"I never said she was." Naruto face palmed as Itachi smirked. "But really what were you dreaming of?"

"Our battle, five years ago. The one that scarred both me and you." Itachi nodded his head.

"Let's go inside and get a mission. Our squad will get mad if we don't get them something 'exciting.'" Itachi opened the door and walked inside. "Besides, there is nothing wrong with dreaming of the battle you lost."

"Oh hell no! You were the one who lost that match!"

"As I recall the proctor called the match for me." The two kept arguing well into the headquarters, thus starting another day of their lives.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> I felt like doing a time skip. I'll explain more that occurred in the next chapter. Tell me what you think of this chapter.

Also to those who have been patient here is the harem list...so for: Kushina, Tsubaki, Yuri, Mikoto and there will be others...just not sure yet. Those four are for sure though. If you're not into incest sorry, but that is part of the requirement for this challenge.


	14. Walk

**Author's Note:** Thanks for the reviews and everything guys. I'm going to try and get through this fast enough to get to the next major arc in my story: the Quill Blade incident. Which will come after the massacre. So for now this will be just a few breather chapters. So anyone, and I mean anyone willing to be my beta? Here is the new chapter, enjoy. Oh and if you need to imagine some voices for Tsubaki and Yuri use the voices of Yoko Hikasa and Aki Toyosaki respectively. They are voices of Mio and Yui from K-ON! respectively.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto at all. I do own Yuri and Tsubaki though.

* * *

><p>In the dead of night, a bald man was running through a forest,panting heavily as he did. He was wearing what seemed to be a Konoha jounin uniform. He had his forehead protector around his neck, but there was a long gash through the symbol. As he was running through the forest, the man kept turning his head behind him trying to see if his pursuers were right behind him. The man stopped behind a tree to rest and catch his breath. He knew he didn't have a lot of time. His pursuer wouldn't give him time to rest. Looking past the trunk of the tree he didn't see anyone there. "Thank goodness," the man mumbled.<p>

Just as he said that, several chains made out of chakra blasted out from the ground and tied him to the tree. His arms were pinned to his sides so he wouldn't be able to do any jutsu and the man was struggling to get free. "Kanou Yanmaru," a voice sighed. Walking out from the shadows was Naruto, with his lion mask on, shaking his head at the bastard he caught. "Under the request of the Fire Daimyo, you are under arrest."

"What for?" Kanou demanded.

"What for?" Naruto repeated in a mocking tone. "Well, let's see. You defected from Konoha. You went to the Daimyo's palace, killed a few guards, attempted to rape his daughter, and then when you failed that you attempted to kill her." Naruto sighed. "If the samurai didn't arrive you probably would have had your balls cut off by that girl. I swear after that, when I went to get the mission she tried to freaking throw a kunai at my crotch." The blond shook his head. "To be honest Yanmaru-san, you're going to go to jail for a long time." Naruto saw the man was still struggling. "Don't bother you wouldn't be able to escape anyway, those seal off chakra."

Walking up to the guy, Naruto slammed his fist against the man temple knocking him out cold. Afterwards, he dispelled his chains only to remake them again a moment later so he wouldn't be stuck on the tree. The blond then started his long trek back to Konoha, dragging the man along with him.

(**Hours later)**

"Thanks Naruto-taicho (Captain). You had caught this man rather fast don't you think?" the man at the reception desk asked when Naruto brought in the rogue ninja. He had black hair and was wearing a jounin's uniform. The blond thirteen year old scratched the back of his head and laughed sheepishly.

"I had a lot of free time. Besides, my squad is on their vacation due to Itachi's orders. I decided to take an easy mission just to make some pocket money," Naruto explained.

"Now that you mention it, where is Itachi-taicho anyway?" Naruto waved his hand dismissively as he turned around to go home.

"He went on a boar hunting mission with his little brother, giving Sasuke some experience." Naruto stretched his arms and then cracked his neck. "Well Ichirei, I'll see you around. I'm going to head home for a bit. If any big case missions come up send for my squad."

"Don't you have to wait for Itachi-taicho to agree to it as well?" Naruto stopped at the door and nodded his head.

"Yeah." The blond then shrugged his shoulders and used a Raiton Shunshin to disappear from the building. Ichirei then shook his head.

"Those two...I swear, they are going to be put in the history books some day. I just hope they don't kill themselves to get there."

(**With Naruto)**

After returning to his home, the one he still shared with Tsunade and Shizune, Naruto changed out of his uniform and took a quick bath. Dressing up in an orange T-shirt, black shorts and a white vest, as well as tying his forehead protector around his bicep the blond went off to go look around for the day. "Wonder what I should do today?" he asked himself. It was only a little past noon since he took up the mission at seven o'clock and used _Raiton no Yoroi_ all the way back.

As he stepped out of his room and through the home, he stopped in the living room for a few seconds to survey it. Back then, when he was seven, it was barren of most things and looked rather unwelcoming. Now, after five years, it was full of mementos of things he had accomplished over the past few years. All the missions he had went on, pictures of his birthdays, but what he liked he most was the center piece. Hanging on the far wall over the fireplace were to flak jackets. One was a lighter green then the other and less bulky. Right underneath of each were pictures. Underneath the olive green one was a picture of a bandaged Naruto with a cast, with Itachi in a very similar condition. On the frame it said _'Day we became chuunins'_. The one under the forest green flack jacket had a ten year old Naruto and Itachi eating ramen, wearing their jackets. Naruto had his mouth full of ramen while smiling at the camera, while Itachi was blushing as a brown haired girl, Ayame of Ichiraku's Ramen, hugged him. On that frame said _'Victory lunch after first successful mission as jounins.' _The blond smiled at his memories

"Man, I should stop reminiscing like that. I'm not an old man just yet," he said aloud. Closing the door behind him just as he left, Naruto decided to go to the academy first. "If I'm not mistaken it's the test for the genin right now...or at least should be over by now." Naruto then chuckled to himself. "Let's see just how my old classmates are doing." With that Naruto took to the roofs. After some few minutes of roof hopping he landed in the front gates of the Konoha Ninja Academy. He saw several families congratulating their kids. He saw one in particular he was familiar with. "Hana-chan! Tsume-sama!" Naruto greeted as he walked up to them. The two women looked towards his direction and smiled at him.

"Hey gaki," Tsume greeted back.

"What are you doing here Naruto?" Hana asked. Naruto grabbed his chest in pain.

"Is that how you greet a friend of yours now Hana-chan? I'm hurt," Naruto stated with mock hurt. The brown haired girl rolled her eyes and Naruto stood up straight. When he did, he saw that Hana had what he was looking for: a forehead protector. She was wearing it around her neck like a necklace. "Heh, seems like you passed the class eh _kohai (junior, underclassmen, etc)_."

"D-Don't call me that!" Hana spluttered. "Do you know how embarrassing it is to have a friend that is the same age as you and so many times higher in rank?" Naruto put a finger to his chin before shaking his head.

"Not really no." Hana pouted and crossed her arms over her chest. Naruto was laughing due to her reaction, and Tsume was as well.

"Well you do have to admit she is right gaki," Tsume stated after getting her bearings. "You're in ANBU and you're only thirteen years old. Not a lot of people could boast that. The very few I know who could are you, Itachi and your fa...I mean Hokage-sama. Sorry Naruto it just..."

"It's fine," Naruto waved off the comment as if it were nothing. "So are you guys going to celebrate this day?"

"Yeah, but a lot later. My idiot brother is still in class," Hana motioned towards a window where several seven year olds were staring at the new genin and their families. "I heard there was a fuss today though. A kid was able to get out of class and go on a mission."

"Oh that would be Itachi's fault."

"EH!" both mother and daughter shouted.

"Itachi asked the council to give him a minor C rank mission, so that he could give his brother some field experience," Naruto explained.

"I didn't know you could do that," Tsume muttered. Naruto sniggered and shook his head.

"Of course you wouldn't know. It's one of the perks of being an ANBU captain." Naruto laughed. "Hey, I want to ask did Kotetsu and Izumo pass too?"

"Yeah they did. They are going to go eat out right now with their families," Hana told him.

"Aw and here I wanted to congratulate those guys too. I mean they would always joke around with me and stuff." Naruto snapped his fingers. "Well, I'll leave you guys to enjoy the rest of the day. I'm going to try and find something to do."

"You can hang out with us for a while if you want to gaki," Tsume suggested.

"Nah it's a good day to celebrate with family." Naruto then looked far away from them. "I think I'll hang out with jiji for a bit." He then flashed a smile at the two females and walked away from the academy. As he did, he passed by the windows of a few classrooms. People who saw him were whispering amongst themselves.

(**In a classroom)**

"Isn't he the Shining Imprisoner?" a boy whispered to another one as they watched Naruto walk by the window.

"What's the Imprisoner doing here?" another boy whispered. "Is the Dark Illusionist here too?"

"Kyaa! He so cool!" a girl squealed.

"I know right!" her friend next to her giggled.

"I don't get it," a boy sighed. He was sitting far away from the window and was looking at the group of people. He had on a fishnet shirt underneath a grey jacket. His brown hair was wild and untamed, and had two fang like markings on his cheeks. "I don't get why girls are going goo goo like that over him."

"Why are you complaining Kiba? If he keeps the troublesome people out of our hair, all the power to him. Isn't that right Chouji?" a boy with a pineapple style haircut yawned from next to him. He was wearing a plain white shirt and grey shorts. Next to him a big boned boy with brown hair was munching on chips nodded his head.

"Shikamaru, you're just being lazy again," Kiba replied with a frown. "I mean really though! He doesn't look all that strong! He doesn't even show how strong he is when he comes to train with my sister. What's so cool about Naruto Uzumaki anyway?"

"It is quite simple as to why he is popular Inuzuka," a stoic voice stated from the level above the trio. Looking behind them, they saw a boy with spiked hair and wearing a red T-shirt with a high collar. Covering his eyes was a pair of circular glasses.

"What are you talking about Shino Aburame? Why do you think he is popular."

Shino adjusted his glasses and said, "He is strong."

"HA! I don't see why people keep saying that! He's never shown that 'strength' when he comes over to our house."

"It's because he does not want to hurt your sister. He is in ANBU and she is just a genin. If he were to take her on seriously, she would be injured. Do you think he would want that happening, to a friend no less?" Shino questioned. Kiba made a strangled noise at the question and then glared at the boy.

"Now that you put it that way…"

Off in the corner another group sat. It consisted of two blond girls, a brunette and a girl with pink hair. One of the blonds had chin length platinum blond hair that had a clip in it. She was wearing an orange shirt and black shorts. Her aqua eyes frowned as she glared at the kids staring at the window. The girl next to her, the one with pink hair with green eyes had her head on the table and was waiting for the teacher. She had on a red bow in her hair and wore a black shirt and a red skirt. The brunette had pale white eyes a brown shirt and green shorts. She was fidgeting and wondering why they found the boy so cool. The one sitting farthest from the window was a girl, who looked suspiciously looked at lot like Naruto. Her hair went all the way to the small of her back, and her cerulean eyes seemed to be glaring at the spot where the blond boy just passed. She was dressed in a golden shirt and black shorts.

"You're glaring again Yuri," the girl with pink hair mumbled as she looked at her friend. She then sat up when the blond girl huffed and crossed her arms.

"I can't help it Sakura!" Yuri protested. "That boy has my dad's looks and my mom's maiden name, but he's not part of my family! Plus he comes over every Sunday to learn some fuuinjutsu with my mom! I swear I'm not sure what to make of that guy! It's so confusing and infuriating!"

"Are you sure it's not because he speaks to your sister more than he does to you?" the platinum blond giggled. Yuri blushed and then pointed at her.

"Sh-shut up Ino! Who cares if he talks to that quiet wall flower instead of me!"

"Apparently you do."

"You should be happy for Tsubaki though Yuri," the brunette spoke up as she sat up straight. "You know how antisocial your sister is. The fact that she has a friend is a good thing."

"I know Hinata, I know," Yuri sighed. "Still, it wouldn't help if he pays a little more attention to me. I mean I'm the daughter of the Hokage too you know. He should pay some attention to me at least."

"Hey where is your sister anyway?" Ino asked. "She's usually here for class."

"Sasuke-kun is missing too," Sakura sighed.

**(With Naruto)**

As Naruto kept walking, he felt several presences trailing him. Some of which he really did not like. Walking into an alley, Naruto stopped halfway before turning around. He lifted up a lightning coated arm and blocked a blade coming towards his head. With his other hand he reached out and grabbed the neck of another person to his side. Doing a short spin, he threw them against each other before throwing a large amount of chains, trapping them against the walls of the building. He now looked at his assailants. They wore ANBU uniforms, but something was off. Their masks were blank of any details save for eye slits and the kanji for root on them. Hearing a cough behind him, Naruto carefully turned around frowning at the person."Shimura-san, what do you need with me?" Naruto asked in a polite, yet serious voice, his eyes trained on the form of Danzo standing with two more ROOT ANBU next to him.

"No need to be so formal Naruto-kun," Danzo replied waving his good hand. "It's a shame we could never get the drop on both you and your partner," the old man sighed as he looked at the ROOT members trapped on the walls. "Will you two even reconsider my proposal?"

"Listen Shimura-san, I appreciate the help you gave me five years ago, but I will not accept. I won't join ROOT, and the same goes for Itachi. We do not want to end up like them," Naruto motioned to the two stuck to the wall.

"I see, that is unfortunate. You would be even stronger if you were to join ROOT though."

"Like I need strength…" Naruto then turned around to leave the alleyway. As he walked away he spoke, "Don't worry though. As long as I breath, you and I have the same goal. I will further Konoha into the future and make it prosper." The blond then stopped at the other end of the alleyway where the sun was shining on the path. "But unlike you who is hidden in the darkness, I'll be out here shining." After that the thirteen year old put his hands into his pockets and followed the crowd.

Listening to what the boy said, Danzo couldn't help but think of Hiruzen. He let out a sigh before looking at his trapped subordinates. "Take them off the walls."

"How do we do that sir?" one of his bodyguards asked.

"I don't know. Figure it out."

**(Minutes Later)**

"Damned old man," Naruto scratched his head furiously as he walked down the street. "I swear he keeps trying to ask me and Itachi into his program every time he sees either of us." Naruto let out as a frustrated sigh as he kept walking. "It's getting rather annoying." He stopped when he noticed he was in front of the Hokage Tower. "How the hell did I end up here?"

"Ah good, Naruto-kun," another elderly voice greeted him. As he looked at the door opening and saw Hiruzen Sarutobi, the now seventy something year old retired Hokage.

"Hey jiji I was going to see you just now. How's handling the paperwork for all the missions going?" Naruto asked with a smirk. The old man let out an amused chuckle.

"Rather tedious and boring. Hearing all these children complain about D-Rank missions make life quite interesting though." He then looked at Naruto with a small smile. "I'm just happy to not being reading about A and S rank missions anymore. You know how messy they can get?"

"Yeah, now that I'm doing some of them I know what you mean." The blond frowned, remembering all the deaths that he had seen during the past few months was rather disheartening. He really didn't like doing the deed, but when it was necessary he would do it. "So why are you out of the office right now jiji?"

"Just getting some fresh air Naruto-kun."

"You have time to go grab one bowl of ramen?"

"Sorry, but I can't I'm just getting a breather. I'm rather busy with more paperwork" He then placed a placating hand on the boy's shoulder. "I'll make it up to you later Naruto."

"I'll hold you to it jiji." Naruto then nodded his head towards the old man and he did the same before entering the building once more. "Now what should I do? I have free time and I have nothing to do." Just as he said that the blond's stomach began to growl. "Hehehe, might as well get some food." The blond turned heading towards the his favorite eatery in all of Konoha: Ichiraku's Ramen. "Well, even if I can't hang out with jiji, I'm going to get some ramen for myself."

The blond whistled a tune as he kept on walking and as he was passing by park, when he halted in his tracks. Looking over to the swing set he found a lonely figure rocking her self back and forth. She was wearing a blue skirt and a white kimono top. She had long flowing red hair that was pulled over her shoulder, and it reached all the way to her waist. In her hair was a blue head band. Her steel grey eyes were downcast as she swung on the swing by herself. Naruto sighed and shook his head. "Why is she here right now? She should be in class," he whispered into himself. Naruto walked over to the swing set and took the one next to her, as silently as he could.

The girl shot her head up when she heard the noise. Her eyes were big and wide as they stared at him and he swung himself on the swing set. "N-N-Naruto-kun…" she softly stuttered. She then turned her head down again and refused to look at him.

"Tsubaki, what are you doing here?" the blond asked in a annoyed tone.

"I-I-I'm already ahead of the subject and didn't want to sit through it again," she replied.

"Are you sure it's not because it was day of doing taijutsu?" He got his reply when the girl seemed to shrink into herself. "Why don't you ask someone from your family for help on that? I'm sure Kushina-sama would love to help. Even Hokage-sama is more than willing to."

"I-I-I don't want to bother them. They are all so busy. Okaa-san started doing missions again, otou-san is busy with Hokage work and Yuri doesn't like helping me all that often." He looked towards her again she she stopped talking. Naruto saw the sad girl looking at him with big sad eyes. "Even you're busy Naruto-kun, you don't have time to play with me now. You may talk to me when you visit the house, but all you do now is learn when you're there. You don't offer to teach me how to throw kunais and shuriken, you don't come to ask how my day is and you don't go with walks with me any more."

"I'm sorry about that Tsubaki, I've been busy with missions." He stood up and placed a hand on her head making the girl look at him again. He bent down on his knees and smiled kindly at her. "Hey, I promise to make more time for you."

"Really?" the girl asked hopefully.

"Really. I'll make more time for my cute little Tsubaki-hime, dattebayo." The girl giggled and Naruto dropped his head a moment after he said that. "GAH! It slipped out again!"

"I find it...cute, dattebane." Naruto face palmed.

"We ninjas aren't supposed to be cute! We're supposed to be cool!' Tsubaki started laughing at the thirteen year old. "Yeah, yeah laugh it up." When Naruto heard growling, one that wasn't his stomach, smirked at the little girl. She had a ruby red face and seemed to have found the ground rather fascinating. "You hungry Tsubaki-hime?" The girl nodded shyly. "Let's go get some ramen then." Naruto held out his hand to the little girl who took it with a smile.

As the two walked down the streets of Konoha, Tsubaki was greeted by most of the villagers. After the whole Kyuubi Incident, Minato had declared that his daughters were jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi. He said that they were the only two holding back the beast and that they were heroes. The crowd cheered for them and had readily saw the twins as heroes. Of course that was the reason that Naruto was disowned from his own family, and not all people were happy seeing as there were some assassination attempts on them. Naruto looked at the girl again who seemed happier now that he was doing something with her mentally frowned. _'Why does she seem so lonely? There are several people there for her. I know okaa-san helps her out and is there for her, but I don't understand why she is being so antisocial,_' he thought to himself.

"Naruto-kun we're here," the red haired girl informed him. The blond snapped out of his musings and entered the little stand. As he did he was surprised to see that there was another pair already eating. One of them was Itachi who was wearing a black high collared shirt and white shorts. Next to him was a younger boy, looked to be the same age as Tsubaki. He was wearing a similar shirt as Itachi, except it was blue and had the Uchiha fan on the back. He had black shorts that went just past his knee and blue sandals. The boy's hair was styled oddly like a duck's rear end.

"Itachi, you're back already?" Naruto asked surprised. He took a seat next to his partner and Tsubaki sat on the other side of him.

"Hey there Naruto!" a middle aged man with brown hair greeted him. "I see you have Tsubaki-sama with you as well."

"He-Hello Teuchi-san," Tsubaki stuttered.

"Hey Teuchi how you doing?"

"I'm doing great!" the ramen stand owner replied. "I had been expecting you earlier. What took so long?"

"Hehehe, sorry I was out talking to some people, then ran into Tsubaki-hime on the way here." The man nodded.

"So what will you two have?"

"I'll have two large bowls of miso ramen with extra pork cutlets on them. How about you Tsubaki?"

"I would like a small bowl of salt ramen…" she whispered.

"Small? You usually get a medium," Naruto stated. "Are you not hungry?"

"I am but…I don't have my wallet on me."

"Don't worry about it. I'll pay for you. What type of friend would I be if I didn't pay for you once in a while." Naruto then turned to Teuchi, "Give her her usual."

"Got it, two large miso ramen and one medium salt ramen. It will take about five minutes," Teuchi replied. He then turned around and started to cook.

"By they way Teuchi-san, where is Ayame?"

"Oh, she choosing what to wear for her date."

"Date?"

"Yeah. Itachi there asked her out on a date. You should have seen him stuttering like a fool as he did." Naruto and Tsubaki turned to look at the older Uchiha brother, who was choking on some noodles. The younger one was tapping his back to help him.

"Sasuke is it true? Did your brother finally grow a pair and ask out Ayame?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"Hai Naruto-san," Sasuke replied with a nod of his head. Itachi managed to swallow the food stuck in his throat, gave his brother a light glare, before glaring at Naruto full on. The blond was laughing and he even saw that Tsubaki was giggling a bit.

"Sure laugh Naruto," Itachi mumbled with a roll of his eyes.

"I can't help it. I mean you've been wanting to ask her out for half a year now. Took you long enough man," Naruto congratulated his friend by slapping his back. "So how did it go?" Itachi stayed quiet, but Naruto saw the faintest of blushes on his cheeks. He looked over to Sasuke, who saw him as a second brother of sorts, but the boy kept his lips sealed. He then turned to Teuchi who barked in laughter.

"You should have seen the boy," the ramen maker said. "He came into the shop and greeted us. He sat down and order ramen for his brother and himself. Then he and Ayame started to make small talk. After a couple of minutes I heard this small little exchange." The ramen maker cleared his throat and tried his best impression of Itachi's voice. "'A-A-Ayame-s-s-san, I l-l-like you. Wh-wh-wh-would you g-g-go on on a date wi-wi-with me tonight?' He was staring so hard at the table, that I thought he was asking it out!"

Naruto laughed even harder and Tsubaki giggled along side him. Itachi sighed in defeat, and noticed that even Sasuke was laughing a bit. The Uchiha was about to reply when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He saw Naruto was smiling at him. "Good job man! You got through your first confession!"

"I would rather go through more life threatening A Rank missions than do that again," Itachi admitted as he sipped some soup. "Was it that hard when you told Yukie-san that you liked her?" Naruto groaned and slammed his head onto the table. Tsubaki looked at him and confused.

"I'll admit, that yes I told Yukie-chan that I liked her. After that we went on a date when I visited her." Naruto stopped talking for a minute to thank Teuchi for the ramen. Everyone there (Tsubaki, Itachi, Sasuke and Teuchi) were all listening carefully to Naruto as he frowned. "But when I confessed to her it was so embarrassing. I confessed to her at the place where she was audition for a movie. When I did I stuttered like a complete dumbass, very much like you, in front of a whole studio. Not only that but for some odd reason the director recorded that mess." Itachi laughed at his friend this time, and everyone else followed suit. Naruto frowned and glared a bit at Itachi but continued on talking. "So you have it lucky, only three people know what happened. I had a large group, and evidence at my embarrassment."

"You're right, that isn't so bad."

"Yeah, I feel sorry for you Naruto-san," Sasuke sniggered at the blond. Naruto glared a bit at Itachi but stopped when he felt someone tugging at his sleeves. He turned to look at Tsubaki who was smiling at him.

"I think it's cute Naruto-kun," Tsubaki told him. Naruto groaned before ignoring them and eating his ramen, mumbling things about ninjas being cool not cute. So it was during that time everyone made small talk, with Naruto having to drag Tsubaki into the conversation since she was so quiet. After eating and paying for their food, they said their goodbyes to the ramen chef. As they were about to leave, an ANBU appeared in front of them.

"Uzumaki-taicho, Uchiha-taicho good afternoon," the ANBU member greeted them "Uzumaki-taicho, the Hokage wants to see you."

"I see," Naruto sighed. "Tsubaki can I leave you in the care of Itachi."

"But Naruto-kun…" She then saw his serious face and stopped her protest. "O-Okay."

"Itachi take her home for me." The older Uchiha nodded and offered her a hand.

"Come on Tsubaki-sama. I'll take you home, Sasuke let's go," Itachi told the kids.

"Hai, onii-san," Sasuke replied. He walked along side the two and Naruto watched them off for a few seconds, before turning to the ANBU member.

"I'll head over there myself," Naruto informed the ninja. The ANBU nodded and Shunshin-ed away. Naruto followed suit, using a lightning variant. He then found himself standing in front of the Hokage tower once more. Opening the doors, he walked through the halls and greeted those who noticed him. He soon found himself in front of the double doors of the Hokage's office. Knocking on the door, he waited to be called in.

"Come in," Minato's voice sounded from the other side of the wall. The blond opened the door and found the Hokage smiling at him.

"Hokage-sama," he greeted his ex-father. Minato was silently before motioning with his hands towards the door. Three hidden ANBU members left the room after that. He watched them all leave before looking at Minato again.

"So how are you Naruto?" the older blond asked with a smile. Naruto responded with a frown.

"Minato-teme, cut the crap already. You cast me out of your family for kami knows what reason, so I know you really don't give a damn about me. You obviously don't like me, and I really don't give a rat's fluffy ass about you at the moment. So let's skip all this bull shit and get to the point. Why did you call me?" Minato dropped his smile and stared at the boy with a frown.

"Blunt as ever Naruto," he sighed. "I really am trying to reconnect to you."

"Are you?" Naruto asked as he leaned against the far wall. "Or are you doing this due to the fact that your wife and daughters speak to me frequently? Add the fact that they see me as some sort of surrogate son or brother or something of the sort doesn't really help, does it?"

"I know that. That is why I'm asking if you want to still join our family." The younger blond gave a humorless laugh.

"Just like Danzou, you are still giving me the same offer even after five years." Naruto pushed off the wall and crossed his arms. "I still refuse. Just like I said all those years ago, I have something I'm aiming for. Now that I have more power, I know I will be able to reach it." Naruto then turned towards the door to leave. "Now, if that is all you needed Hokage-sama."

"No it isn't. I'm giving you this warning." The Uzumaki heard the threat in the Namikaze's tone, hell he could even feel the killing intent behind it. "If you do anything to bring harm on my family I will kill you. I care for my family."

"You have a funny way of showing it then. If you really care about them I suggest you make time for Tsubaki, curb Yuri's ego and actually show you love Kushina-sama," Naruto suggested, "because from the looks of things she seems a bit displeased these past few days. You do something to piss off the woman you're so in love with recently teme?" He then felt something moving through the air. After using _Harukaze Miyabi_ for such long periods of time the amounts of chakra needed to maintain and use the move had minimized so much that Naruto could afford to have the technique go out in a five meter (about five yards) radius in all directions. Then Naruto caught the kunai aimed at his head, while using a _Raiton no Yoroi_ enhanced hand to hold onto a spiraling orb of chakra aimed at him. Dropping the kunai, Naruto held onto Minato's wrist. Cerulean eyes met cerulean as they glared. Throwing away the arm, Naruto sped to the window and glared at the Hokage. "Attacking me now?"

"No, it was all reflex. I thought I saw a rather big bug on the wall and decided to kill it," Minato replied with a forced smile.

"With a _Rasengan_?"

"It was a _big_ bug." Both blonds glared at each. Naruto knew he couldn't do anything to retaliate to the attack, due to it being an act of treason. Minato knew he couldn't accuse Naruto of anything, there was no evidence of any treason. Naruto was good enough to hide any trace of whatever he did to avoid suspicion. Fitting of an ANBU captain.

"If that is all Hokage-sama, I will be taking my leave."

"Very well, Naruto. You are dismissed." Naruto saluted, and jumped out the window. "Damn him, he's getting stronger. If this keeps going, that second prophecy may come true." He picked up his kunai, a three pronged kunai and frowned. He knew that he would have been able to hit the boy with his _Rasengan_, if only his _Hiraishin_ jutsu worked, but for some reason it didn't work. He looked at the blade and scowled. At the seal array for the jutsu was destroyed. _'He destroyed it the moment he caught it. Smart of him."_

(**With** **Naruto)**

'_He's starting to get hostile now,'_ Naruto mentally frowned. _'Kami, and here I thought that our verbal matches were intense. I didn't know he was going to start resulting in threatening me. Although I should have not provoked him at all in the first place_.'

"Naruto-kun!" a woman's voice shouted out to him. The blond looked up and smiled at the person. It was Kushina Namikaze. She was dressed in fully jounin gear. "How are you?"

"I'm doing well Kushina-sensei," he answered. "You went on a mission?'

"Yeah, I wanted my to stretch out my legs and get my blood pumping." Naruto nodded his head before sighing.

"Look, Kushina-sensei, I'm not going to be able to make our fuuinjutsu lesson on Sunday."

"Oh why?"

"I'm going to go visit somebody that day."

"That person you keep meeting up with once a month?"

"Yeah. So please take that time and spend it with your family," Naruto smiled at his suggestion. He was doing this for Tsubaki, his little sister that will never know that he is her brother. He was so damn soft when it came to girls like them.

"Oh...okay," Kushina replied, sounding rather disappointed by his answer and the blond caught it well enough. "Well, just come by the house if you need anything then." Naruto nodded and wave her off as she too headed towards. Looking up to the sky and noticing that it was already late in the afternoon, Naruto sighed for the umpteenth time that day. As he decided to begin his trek home and to make dinner for his family.

'_Heh, family. Obaa-chan and Shizune always smile when I call them that. Although recently, I'm starting to think that Shizune-nee doesn't see me like a little brother any more. I mean she keeps hugging me more affectionately, kissing me on the cheek, she also has this lingering gaze that looks at my back and let's not forget the blush each time smile at her.'_ So lost in his thought, that Naruto wasn't looking was going and he had bumped into someone.

"Oh I'm so sorry," he apologized.

"It is fine young one," Naruto heard a regal voice. Looking at the woman, he was surprised to see an elegant looking woman. She had black hair done in a nice bun, and she was dressed in a decorative white kimono. Her jade green eyes blinked at him. "You look just like…" the woman whispered, so low that Naruto couldn't catch what she was saying.

"Excuse me miss?"

"Sorry, just lost in thought. Would you mind helping me go to the Hokage's office?"

"Um...of course miss uh…"

"Calle me Tsunako."

"Okay Tsunako-san let's go." The walk to the building was rather lax. Tsunako would ask Naruto a few things about Konoha, and he would reply and explain them to her. As they approached the building, Naruto held the door open for her. They made their way up the stairs and Naruto once again found his himself standing in front of those same double doors. Knocking on the door once again, he heard the come in opened the door. He saw Kushina was in there as well, probably still giving her report. They were looking at him expectantly. "Excuse me Hokage-sama, a Tsunako has come here to meet with you." The moment he said those words, he noticed that Minato pale visibly. Kushina looked confused.

"Hello Minato-sama, how are you?" Tsunako asked with a calm smile.

"I am fine," Minato gulped.

"Um...who are you?" Kushina inquired.

"Oh, let me introduce myself. I am Tsunako of the Nadeshiko Village. I am here to come for your end of the agreement we had all those years ago," Tsunako spoke. "I am here to take you back to my village and make you my husband."

"WHAT!" was the similar shout of Naruto and Kushina. By now, Minato was sweating bullets.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> Like I said, breather chapters. Tell me what you think. Also, I think it's about time to start Minato's fall don't you think. Oh and I would like to thank **_ncpfan_** for Naruto and Minato's conversation starter. So leave a review. I tend to write faster the more reviews I get.


	15. Infidelity

**Author's Note:** Thanks for everything again. I replied to your review via PM again if I thought you deserved some explanation. Still looking for a beta. Also sorry, this chapter is shorter than most. A good 700 or so words shorter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>"Minato who is this whore?" Kushina demanded as she turned to her husband. Minato gulped as he looked between the two women.<p>

"I can explain Kushina," the older blond stated as he rolled his chair back a bit. Suddenly the intercom came to life.

"Um Hokage-sama your daughter Yuri is here to see you," his receptionist informed them.

"Not now, I'm kind of busy at the moment."

"But sir, she insists," the receptionist reported.

"_What is Yuri doing here?_" Naruto wondered to told the man on the other side of the intercom not to let the person in as he was having a very important conversation right now. Naruto turned his attention to the two women.

"Why are you here you husband stealer?" Kushina growled at Tsunako.

"Please, he was promised to me fifteen years ago," Tsunako laughed. That made Naruto and Kushina's eyes widen in disbelief.

"F-F-Fiftteen years ago?" Kushina stuttered. "But he and I were already dating during that time! How was the during that time engaged to you!"

"By the laws of my village, Nadeshiko Village, we women are to go out and challenge men to a fight. If we beat them, we kill them. If they win, they _have_ to marry us." The raven haired beauty motioned to the blond who was sinking back into his chair as Kushina glared at him. "During one of his missions away from the village I met up with him and challenged him to fight. He won. He promised himself to me after that, he even brought me to bed." This caused the red haired woman to gasp, before turning to her husband.

"Is that true? Did you cheat on me? All the way back then?" Kushina asked her husband.

"Of course not! I would never do that to you Kushina! I love you!" Minato protested, his voice getting louder with each sentence said. He then turned to Tsunako who was laughing. "And you get out of my office! I don't know who you are, but I don't want you destroying my family with your lies."

"But I am not lying, Minato Namikaze," Tsunako said with a firm voice. "If you want proof I can tell you something that someone who has seen you fully nude before would know." She then smiled at him. "I usually don't say such vulgar things out loud but right above your groin is a small scar in the shape of triangle."

"How did you know that?" Kushina gasped.

"Just as I said, he took me to bed and I saw him entirely."

"You just seduced him you bitch."

"Um...ladies," Naruto tired to get a word into somehow stop the women. "Can you two please not argue right now?"

"Yes, for once I agree with Naruto," Minato stated. "Please Kushina, calm down."

"Yes, calm down please. Tsunako-san don't do anything outrageous."

"Keep away from husband you loose whore," Kushina ground out.

"If you could please your man back then, he wouldn't have had to come to me for pleasure," Tsunako answered. "I bet he goes to the brothel to get some loving."

"You bitch!" Before Naruto or Minato could react, Kushina lunged. She punched Tsunako, who retaliated by kicking her...out the window.

"I'll be back for you Minato-sama, after I kill that woman you are married to. After that you can come back with me due to our little ordeal back then." With that the beauty jumped out the window after Kushina. Naruto and Minato were looking out the window and heard the sounds of a scuffle going on between the two women outside. It took a few moments before Naruto spoke up.

"Aren't you going to do something about this?" he asked looking towards Minato.

"I don't think I'm going to be able to stop them, since I am the reason they are fighting." Naruto showed his displeasure at the choice, but shook his head.

"I'll stop them if you're willing do give me one favor, not now, but sometime in the near future."

"Why should I do that Naruto?"

"Because this could be considered an S-Rank mission. You don't want to get in the middle of a fight between your wife and some woman you cheated on her with. Getting into a cat fight like that is the death of any sane person." Minato thought it over and agreed.

"Fine, just stop them."

"Deal." The blond then turned to the window outside. "You heard that right Ero-sensei. Hokage-sama owes me one favor."

"I hear that kid," Jiraiya replied as he emerged. "I'll got it recorded too." The old sage held up a tape recorder. Naruto then smiled at his former father who scowled at the fact that he was tricked by a child and his mentor. Naruto gave his father a salute before jumping out the window.

"I'm going to need a drink after this," Minato muttered under his breath. "How long have you been there?" Jiraiya stepped into the room through the window.

"Since Kushina entered the room and debriefed you on her mission. Naruto waved at me before coming into the building. So care to tell me when 'One-Woman' Minato decided to cheat on Kushina?" the perverted man asked as he sat down on one of the couches.

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, I think you should. If you don't who knows what will happen to your family." This caused the blond to frown and open his mouth to explain the entire situation to Jiraiya. About how he met with a woman outside of the village, how he beat her in battle and how he gave into his urges that night. All the while, Yuri was outside listening to what her father confessed.

(**With Naruto)**

Naruto chased after the two women who were beating up each other as they ran throughout the village. "If they don't stop they'll probably destroy half of Konoha," he said to himself as he looked at the carnage left by the two women. Several stalls were broken, some housed had large chunks ripped off due to Tsunako's surprising amount of strength as she hurled those concrete blocks at them. He also noticed several ANBU on the floor either hurt by the trying to stop them only to be hit and left lying on the floor, or being just getting hit by collateral damage. Naruto stopped chasing the women for a bit to order some of the ninja around.

"Stop following them!" Naruto barked his order. Several chasing ninjas stopped and stared at Naruto.

"Uzumaki-taicho!" most of the ANBU greeted. They all knelt before him as he looked at them. Unlike the ANBU, the lower ranked ninjas stared in awe of the blond in front of them. Most, if not all, of them had never met the fabled _Shining Imprisoner_ in person. Some of the women swooned they saw him, while the men held a respect for the boy who made it into ANBU at the age of thirteen.

"If you guys keep chasing them, you'll end up getting hurt too. Now, I want half of you to take the injured to the hospital." He pointed to the left half of the group when he said this. "I want a quarter of the remaining to make sure the civilians stay away from the Kushina-sama and her guest. While the last few take into account how much damage has been done to the village."

"What do we do about the pair though?" a jounin asked.

"I'll handle it. Now go!"

"HAI TAICHO!" the ANBU shouted before reacting. The jounin followed suit, with chuunin and genin still looking in awe at the boy. Naruto smiled at them before motioning with his head to do their job. They nodded and moved to action as well. Just as Naruto was about to move, two figures landed next to him. One was Itachi and the other was Shisui.

"What's the situation?" the older Uchiha asked.

"Kushina-sama and a visitor are having a dispute," Naruto informed them.

"Over what?" Itachi questioned.

"The right to see who Hokage-sama belongs to." Both Uchiha raised an eyebrow at him. "It's hard to explain since even I don't know all of the details myself."

"So what do you want us to do Naruto-taicho?" Naruto smacked his forehead before speaking again.

"Kami, that sounds so weird coming from you, Shisui-nii," Naruto whined. Next to him Itachi was nodding his head. "Enough of that. I want you two to seal of the perimeter to make sure no one enters the training field three."

"Why that field?" Itachi asked.

"It's the closest one here and that's where I'll take those two to handle them."

"Got it." Both Uchiha's jumped ahead to the training field Naruto spoke of and the blond frowned.

"I really don't want to hurt Kushina-sama and Tsunako-san, but I have to do what I need to do." Naruto put his made a cross sign with his hands and shouted. _"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"_ A second Naruto appeared next to the original and nodded. Both of them turned on _Raiton no Yoroi_ and sped off. The original grabbed Kushina by the waist mid attack and the clone did the same with Tsunako. A few seconds later they found themselves in the training field that Naruto appointed. He gently dropped off both women to the ground but made sure to give enough distance between them and himself just in case they attack in their fury. He then saw Itachi and Shisui nodding towards him, confirming that they have sealed off the area to other people. The blond then turned his attention to the two women, who were now glaring at him.

"Naruto-kun, I care for you but please stay out of this fight," Kushina ground out.

"Yes, little boy, do not interfere with us," Tsunako agreed. "After I kill this woman, I will be out of your hair."

"Heh, like you can kill me 'ttebane," the red haired replied with a glare. The two women charged again, but this time Naruto appeared in between them. He placed a palm on Kushina stomach, and a multitude of chains shot out and covered her. Doing the same with Tsunako as he slammed his other palm into her stomach. Both women were stopped for a moment, before Naruto pushed Tsunako to the right and Naruto pushed Kushina away.

"Will you two stop this nonsense?" Naruto frowned.

"No!" both women shouted in return. Naruto's eyes widened since Tsunako tore through the chains just utilizing sheer force of strength, and Kushina using her own abilities with the technique to destroy them. The two of them charged and started attacking each other again.

"Note to self, strengthen chains against physically strong opponents." Frowning, the blond knew that he wouldn't be able to stop them with the chains again if they were able to do that. He started doing hand seals as he watched the two women duke it out. Surprisingly enough, both women were even in terms of strength and were trading blows evenly. Not only that, their skills in kunais, senbon were even too. When they were throwing out jutsus they had canceled each other out. Kushina, being a suiton user, evened out against Tsunako's fuuton jutsu. "_Ranton: Tenmou!" _Making an L shape with his right hand, he shot out two short beams of light from his fingers and hit both women mid swing of their attacks. When they hit their marks, the two beams of light spread around both women's bodies, covering them completely in a crisscrossing pattern of lightning that seemed to tighten around their bodies and then the ends of the flowing bolts had pierced and embedded themselves into the ground.

"What is this?" Tsunako asked as she tried to struggle against the jutsu, only find the bolts of lightning tightening and shocking her. She struggled even more causing the jutsu to react with more shocks and even more tightening. What surprised Naruto was that the woman let out a moan when that occurred. "Hmm...for a child you are rather kinky. I like it. Would you like to play with me later?" She smiled seductively at the boy. Kushina, for a reason she still could not fathom, growled at the fact that the woman had the gall to try and seduce her student, _her_ Naruto. When she did that and tried to struggle, the binding ropes of lightning tightened around her and made her flinch in pain. As for the blond, his reaction to the flirting was his palm meeting his face.

"Why do I always manage to capture the women who_ like_ being tied up? First Mitarashi-san, then that other crazy woman from Kiri when I was near there and now you." Naruto huffed. "Now I want both of you to stay there and calm down. I won't loosen up those techniques if you keep on fighting."

"I wouldn't mind if you tightened them a bit more," Tsunako said in a husky voice. Naruto had a sweat drop appear, for the woman was surely getting off his technique.

"Okay…" The blond coughed to regain his bearings before speaking again. "Now, Tsunako-san, would mind explaining to me the full situation." Kushina was about to open her mouth but Naruto glared at her, causing her to stop. "I would rather you not insult her right now Kushina-sama. So if you would, please stay quiet." The tone he was using was the one reserved for members in his squad who were not listening. It was similar to one that a parent would use on a disobedient child. Just by hearing that tone, one she that she never expected Naruto to use on her, Kushina kept quiet. The blond then turned back towards Tsunako. "Please, explain."

"I already explained it back in the office."

"In detail." The tone reappeared in his voice and Tsunako also flinched at it.

"Alright. Fifteen years ago, just as I said, I had met with Minato-sama on one of his missions. As it was, I was on the exact same mission."

"Which was?"

"Just to exterminate a large group of bandits. So we decided to help each other out during that time. The mission was over fairly quickly, and we got our payments. It was after the mission that we got..._busy_." Kushina growled again, but kept quiet. "I challenged him to a battle and he won, thus making him the best choice of husband." This made the blond raise an eyebrow at the woman.

"How so?"

"The village I come from is highly maternal, where women rule. So when we go look for husbands outside of the village, we have to find one stronger than ourselves to breed strong heirs." Naruto nodded his head this time.

"I see. Now, can you please explain the part as to why you had sex with Hokage-sama. It must have been clear that he was dating someone, he must have said it at some point," he suggested.

"That's just it, he never told me he was in a relationship. He just had sex with me that night and left the following morning. Minato-sama left a note saying that he'll come back for me eventually. After a decade and a half, I decided to see if he was still alive and here I am. I really want him to be my husband, but seeing as he is married the only way I can get that is to kill the woman right there."

"Like hell I'll let you do that!" Kushina shouted. Naruto sighed and shook his head. Walking over to Tsunako, he placed a two fingers on the back of her neck. Pressing it and applying some chakra, several seal arrays appeared all to crawl out of the place he touched. It went under her clothes before they disappeared in a blue light. Naruto turned on his heels walked over to Kushina and did the same thing. "Naruto-kun?"

"Sorry, Kushina-sama, this is a precaution," Naruto apologized. "I don't want both of you killing each other. Until we get, Hokage-sama's side of this discussion, I'm sealing off your chakras." He then smirked. "And I know you can undo most seals, especially this one, but I made sure you can't break it Kushina-sama." Without saying anything, he also took this time to study the seal on the back of her neck, the one place by her own husband. The chakra in it that had the seal going was so faint that it would be hard to trace. What surprised Naruto though was the amount of cracks on it. It seemed as if the seal was on the verge of breaking.

"How so?" Kushina asked.

"It's an oral seal. It will only turn off if I say a certain phrase." He then walked in between the two women and looked at each of them with a mild glare. "Now, I will take off the jutsu holding you down. Do not try to kill each other this time." Dropping the ranton jutsu, the woman rubbed some sore spots were the lightning was too tight. Although the entire time Tsunako did this, she was smiling flirtatiously at Naruto. The blond slapped his palm against his face again after seeing the smile. "Now, will you two behave as he head back towards the tower?" Both women nodded, although it seemed that Kushina's was more forced than anything. "Good, Itachi, Shisui you can head back now. Help anyone in the village that needs repairs." The two Uchiha's chakra disappeared a few seconds later. "Let's go."

As the blond was leading them back, the two women were relatively calm. Although, Naruto knew the seal would probably not hinder the fight between these two women, he was content with them following his orders. Tsunako was watching the blond intently during the journey back, while Kushina was watching Tsunako with a glare. "Tell me, Minato-sama's wife, who is that boy? He looks just like Minato-sama, is he your son?"

"I have a name, it is Kushina," the red head snapped. "And no he is not our son." Kushina felt a stab of sadness in her heart when she said that but was still confused as to why. "He is ANBU captain, Naruto Uzumaki. he is my apprentice in fuuinjutsu."

"ANBU captain already? He is only like what, twelve years old?"

"He is thirteen and yes, he is a captain. He is just far stronger than most children his age." The red head then glared at the woman again. "Why? Trying to get him too?"

"I am not sure, maybe. If he can beat me in a battle, I wouldn't mind giving up chasing Minato-sama for him. He may be young, but I can raise him to be a perfect husband. Besides, those odd chains and capturing techniques will surely liven up the bedroom once he is old enough." Tsunako smiled, and Kushina blushed. She never considered bondage, ever, not liking the idea of it. "Now, that I think about it, I may just challenge him right after the little explanation, and take him away with me." Kushina growled again and was reading a scathing remark on how the woman was going to be a cradle robber, but she was interrupted when Naruto stopped. They were already in front of the Hokage Tower and he looked at them.

"Let's get this over with. I wan to go home and rest after this entire ordeal," Naruto sighed as he rubbed his temples. The trio made its way up towards the Hokage's office. Upon reaching the doors, Naruto was surprised to see Yuri eavesdropping. "Yuri-sama, what are you doing? Listening in on your father's meetings again?" The little blond girl's head snapped up towards Naruto. She opened her mouth and closed it several times, unable to form a coherent sentence due to being caught eavesdropping. She settled for glaring at the blond.

"I _have_ the right to be here. I am the Hokage's daughter and I can go wherever _I_ want. So do not go around commanding _me_ Uzumaki," Yuri scowled.

"Yuri-sama go home." That commanding tone reappeared in his voice, and Yuri gulped. She felt like she was staring down her dad, but being the proud daughter of Minato Namikaze, she did not want to listen.

"No! You cannot command me like that! You're not my father, so I don't have to listen to you at all!"

"But you have to listen to what your mother says," Naruto turned to Kushina, "isn't that right Kushina-sama?" Yuri turned her head towards her mother, who she just noticed for the first time.

"O-Okaa-san…"

"Yuri-chan, go home please. Your father has very important business to speak of, and you're too young to understand it," Kushina suggested in a soft tone. Yuri opened her mouth to protest, but stopped herself.

"Hai okaa-san." Yuri walked past the trio and glared at Naruto. The blond teen shook his head again, not liking that she would glare at him like that.

"You should really curb her ego, Kushina-sama," Naruto sighed. "She thinks she's a big deal since she is the Hokage's daughter, when she is not. She keeps using that title of hers to go around and get free stuff from people, and get lesson from older shinobi. She also thinks she's better than the others in her class, when I know she is just mediocre."

"Naruto-kun, I won't let you insult my daughter in front of me," Kushina replied.

"I'm not insulting her, I'm telling the truth. She may be great in taijutsu, but her nin- and genjutsu leave a lot to be desired." The blond sighed and turned to Tsunako. "I am sorry about that."

"It is fine," the raven haired beauty smiled. Naruto opened the door to the room, to see Minato all alone staring at the desk.

"Hokage-sama, I am have stopped the two as per our agreement."

"Alright, you may leave now Naruto-san," Minato suggested towards the door. Naruto bowed and left the room, only to hop out the window and sit along the side of the window for the Hokage's office. Running chakra through his ears, Naruto listened in to the conversations. He could only catch pieces of the ensuing argument inside. Kushina shouting at Minato at his infidelity, Tsunako stating that she would give up on Minato because he had children already, Minato trying to save his sorry ass from his own wife's wrath. He knew it was wrong to do this, but he wasn't doing this for information. No, Naruto was standing guard there just in case Minato would do something harmful to the women. The argument kept going for a little longer, before he heard Tsunako leave followed shortly by Kushina who gave her husband parting words, namely 'you're sleeping in a hotel tonight.'

Naruto sighed before jumping off the ledge and landing on the ground. He dusted himself off, before deciding to walk home. As he was walking, he felt a presence following him, one that wasn't hiding herself so well. "Tsunako-san, I regret to tell you this but I won't fight you. For one, I'm to young to get married and two, I have a girlfriend."

"Aw, don't worry about it," Tsunako replied as she began to walk alongside him. "I'll wait for you to break up to get you to come with me." The blond shook his head. "Besides, you are a little young for me. Although my friend has a daughter a few years younger than you."

"I don't think they'd be happy with that. Besides, what's the chances of me ever meeting with her?"

"Rather high now that I will suggest you as a possible candidate." This caused the blond to fight the urge to groan.

"Really Tsunako-san, I don't want you playing matchmaker for me. I found my first girlfriend, and I'm willing to find others if this one doesn't work out. Just...don't send violent women after me demanding that I give them children. I think I'd be scarred for life if that were to happen." Eyeing her, Naruto decided to voice out his concern. "I heard you saying that you were not going to chase after Hokage-sama, since he had kids. Is that true?" The woman laughed behind her hand.

"Heavens no. The reason I decided to stop chasing him was simple." When Naruto raised an eyebrow, motioning for her to continue she smiled at him. "He's proving to me what my village is sure of."

"Which is?"

"Men are all corrupt individuals and are only looking out for themselves." She motioned towards the tower as they walked away from it. "He used me to fulfill his desires since he was away from the village and his lover. He was willing to look out for himself and only himself."

"Not all men are like that," Naruto retorted. "There are several around the world and in the past that have done things not for themselves but for the betterment of everyone around them. Like the Shodaime Hokage, and the legendary Rikudou Sennin. You can't tell me that you believe that all men are corrupt or evil."

"You have a point but I never met these persons." She then looked at him with a critical eye. "I mean you may be like Minato-san as well, but we'll never know that until you show it in your actions."

"I am not like him," Naruto growled in reply. "And it would be good to not associate me with him. He may be my leader, but he is not a person I respect." He then stared at her with some annoyance in his eyes, before it left and he motioned towards a hotel within the city. "Shall I walk you to your hotel?"

"I would not mind that Naruto."

"Oh and...you could your chakra now. The seal came off when we were in the office."

"Oh? I did not feel it come off."

"You may not have felt it, but I'm sure Kushina-sama did. The phrase to unlock it was 'as per our agreement.'"

(**Time skip)**

A few hours later, after having dinner with Tsunade, Shizune and a visiting Jiraiya, Naruto was standing outside of the house waiting for his godfather. As the toad sage joined him, Naruto opened their discussion with one statement that caught Jiraiya off guard. "Minato attacked me today," he said.

"He what!" Jiraiya shouted.

"He attacked me. After I, partially, insulted him."

"That crazy bastard! What did he think he was doing by attacking you?"

"Who knows?" Naruto sighed.

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I am doing nothing. I can't do anything about the situation I am in." Naruto sighed as he looked at his arm. "He used both _Hiraishin _and _Rasengan_. If I didn't have _Harukaze Miyabi_ and _Raiton no Yoroi _on I would have been in the hospital...or the morgue." He then sighed and shook his head. "Do you think you can look up any other cases infidelity Hokage-sama may have had?"

"I can, but that won't take precedence to my duties to the village."

"It is fine. Just do what you can. If one appeared claiming to have some sort of affair with the man, I want you to find out if there are others like her." Jiraiya nodded. The blond eyed his sensei and spoke again. "You're taking his attack on me rather well."

"I'd rather not blow up right here. Don't want Tsunade-hime getting all furious at me."

"Heh, you're so whipped."

"Hey what can you say? It is women that rule the world, not men."

"Women."

**(Namikaze Household)**

Kushina laid on her bed, alone, that night. She had meant it when she told Minato that he would sleep in a hotel after that whole ordeal. As of right now she couldn't trust him and had put up a privacy seal and a locking seal, on the door. She made it a complex one, one that she had not taught Minato, to keep him out. The argument she had with him in the office was rather calm and sedated. When they got home, their argument escalated to a shouting match. They had put Tsubaki and Yuri to their rooms on the second to ensure that they would not hear or see what was happening on the first floor.

So now, as she laid in bed her thoughts kept turning back to their disagreement and his cheating on her. Sure it may have happened well over a decade ago, but it still hurt to think that Minato cheated on her while she was dating him. She had been faithful to him every step of the way. She had loved him ever since he saved her from the Kumo ninjas when they were teens, and how does he repay her? By having sex with a woman behind her back.

'_And that was one woman. After fifteen years, who knows how many more are out there?'_ she thought to herself. That made her heart sink a bit more. _"Has he been faithful to me as I have been with him, or has he been doing things behind my back all this time?' _Thinking that, she felt a stab of hurt in her chest. As she continued to dwell on those thoughts, she kept feeling more and more unsure of her relationship with her own husband. Soon she was twisting herself in a knot literally and figuratively as she tossed and turned on her bed.

Slowly, her thoughts changed from one blond to another as she tried to stop thinking about her husband. Her mind shifted to Naruto, and the way he spoke, no commanded, her that day. She would have never expected that from him. From all the times he spent with her during the weekends. During those times the boy was light hearted, fun to be around and was kind. He would soak up knowledge and show that he was really appreciative of what she was doing for him.

But when he got into his 'commander mode' she was shocked. The fact that he spoke down to her and she obeyed was even more shocking. It was during that time when reality came crashing down, and showed that her Naruto wasn't just a boy wanting to learn but a skilled shinobi that demanded the respect of all those around him.

'_Wait...my Naruto? When did I start thinking of Naruto-kun that way?' _She thought to herself. _'I shouldn't be thinking of the boy as my possession. He's a pupil, a friend and...a respected Uzumaki clan member. He's not like some sort of puppy you find and take home, nor is he my child.'_ That gut retching feeling reappeared again when she thought that. She brushed it off, but the nagging feeling inside her head told her she shouldn't. As she laid there now, she thought of all the times she had interacted with Naruto throughout those five years.

She smiled fondly as she remembered all the times she helped him in learning fuuinjutsu. She remembered the one time where Naruto fell asleep while working, and ended up smudging his face with ink. Kushina then remembered the time Naruto first met up with Tsubaki and Yuri, as he bonded with them relatively well. Tsubaki seemed to have clung onto him after meeting him while Yuri was partially afraid of him, due to the fact that he looked so much like Minato. Both girls kept coming to him during his sessions with her, whether it be to play around (Tsubaki) or question him (Yuri) the two girls were drawn to the blond. Kushina would be lying to herself if she didn't say that spent almost all morning on Sunday counting off the minutes until Naruto would come to visit. His comings and goings to the Namikaze household had been some of the most fun she had in years. If they weren't learning Naruto would be doing something that would be entertaining to her and the girls. Almost like how Minato would be before he delved too deep into his work.

With that small thought Kushina frowned. That one thought had led her to now compare the two men to each other. Their appearances were similar were almost identical to each other, but it was in their personalities that was different. While Minato, over the course of the years after the birth of the twins, had started to become obsessed with work and partially neglecting the kids, Naruto had entered their lives and made it a more enjoyable life. The more Minato seemed to distance himself from their family, the more Naruto seemed to slowly worm his way in. Now as she slowly fell asleep, Kushina couldn't help but think that Naruto would be a perfect person for their family.

**(With Minato)**

Minato couldn't help but frown as he paced the floor of his hotel room. True to her word, Kushina put up several seals to keep him out. Heck she even threw out all his _Hiraishin_ kunais and erased all his emergency seals inside. He cursed that Tsunako woman for coming in and ruining his rather unstable life at the moment. The fact that Naruto was becoming more of a threat and coming closer to fulfill that prophecy made so long ago was one thing, now his wife is mad at him.

He really couldn't blame anyone though. He was weak all those years ago. He wanted to ask Tsunako for help on how to learn to please a woman, so he can do those things to Kushina. He didn't think that that whole rational would bite him in the proverbial ass later on. Now, a good decade and a half later the woman just had to appear and ruin what he had up. Sure, Naruto stopped her and Kushina from duking it out, but a city block or so was destroyed in their little match. Hell, Minato had to make up a story as to not arrest the woman, since she was starting to attach herself to Naruto.

Now there was a name that made him made. The blond little punk was growing up too fast and too strong. The second prophecy about him would happen all too soon if he didn't do anything to curb that boy's progress. Not only that, he was getting to close to Kushina and the girls. Minato knew that the blond loved them, as he should because he was their family, but he posed a threat to them. Naruto's strength would bring his enemies onto him and those close to him. That would make Naruto's presence around his family is a danger. Sadly he forgot that he was an S-class ninja himself and would likely bring the same fate upon his family as Naruto would.

Minato cursed himself even more. After all these years, the seal on Kushina is coming off and with Naruto getting closer to her, soon her memories would come back to her and everything will fall apart.

"I have to do something about him, but what?" Minato said to himself. Slowly as he thought to himself, he turned towards the Uchiha district, the home of Naruto's strongest allies and smiled slowly. He knew what he had to do, if anything it would help him take care of those little pricks. They wouldn't listen to him, but they would listen to Naruto. If his long banished son wanted to take over Konoha, the Uchiha would help. They made sure to voice out their like for him, and that he could use. All it would take is one night, and a squad of ANBU.

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><p><strong>Author's End note: <strong>Leave a review. Tell me what you think and what I did wrong.


	16. Revelations

**Author's Notes:** Thanks for all the likes/favs/reviews etc. This chapter is unbeta-ed, for the most part, because I am not sure whether or not the person I asked is testing at the moment. So, here's the new chapter. Enjoy. Oh and remember, I contacted you already if your reviewed needed to be spoken about.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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><p>A week after the whole Tsunako incident, everything went back to normal. People had returned to their jobs, Tsunako went home, and everything was just peachy keen. As Tsunade sat down in her office at the hospital in Konoha, she heard a knock on the door. Shizune, who was putting away papers into the filing cabinet next to it, opened the door. Naruto stepped inside and smiled at them. "Hey baa-chan, Shizune-nee how are you?" Naruto asked as he strolled in. He flashed a smile at Shizune who smiled back, but there was the faintest hint of a blush on her cheeks.<p>

"Bored," Tsunade replied. "Your surrogate sister over there won't let me have any sake. There aren't many patients and not a lot of work today." The blond woman then looked at Naruto with narrowed eyes. "Why are you here brat?" Naruto walked up to Tsunade and threw an envelope onto the table. Tsunade raised an eyebrow before opening the envelope. It was full of Ryo, hundreds of thousands of it. "What is this for?"

"You should go on vacation," the blond replied with a smile. "You and Shizune-nee have done so much lately, all I ever see is you two running around. So, I asked the Hokage to give you a vacation for a week."

"Really? How kind of you Naruto-kun," Shizune cooed as she hugged him from behind. The blond smiled back at her. "Are you going to be coming with us?" The boy shook his head.

"Sorry, I've got a mission that day."

"I see. Well, thanks for the gambling money brat!" Tsunade smirked. "We'll leave tomorrow." Naruto nodded before heading out the door, but before he did he gave Shizune a quick peck on the cheek causing the girl to blush and stutter uncontrollably. Tsunade laughed at her apprentice as her surrogate son left the room. A few minutes later, when Shizune calmed down, Tsunade frowned. "Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked.

"The kid wouldn't give us this much money just to go gambling."

"Well, he does know about your terrible losing streak so it would make sense that he'd give us enough money to last a few days." Tsunade balked completely forgetting that she sucked at gambling.

"Be quiet Shizune. We'll pack and leave tonight! No time like the present to get some more money!" Even as she said this, Tsunade could not help the feeling that Naruto was up to something. Something that needed her to be out of the village. When Naruto was far away as possible, he popped into a cloud of smoke revealing only to be a clone.

(Time Skip)

Naruto landed in front of a hotel in the small village of Tanzaku Gai, looking around to make sure no one was following him, he entered the building. He smiled at the receptionist and spoke. "Hello, may I know which room Yukie Fujikaze is in?" he asked.

"Sure, may I know who you are first?" the receptionist asked.

"I'm her boyfriend."

"Oh! I didn't know she had one." She then looked through the hotel's log before speaking again. "She is staying in room 2D."

"Thank you." Naruto turned and went up the stairs to the second floor and searched for the room. After finding it he knocked on the door and waited patiently.

"Coming!" a girl's voice exclaimed. When the door opened Naruto smiled at the person who opened it. Yukie had grown in the past five years. Her hair was now longer and she lost most of her baby fat. She was now only a few centimeters were shorter than himself. She was dressed in a navy blue kimono, that matched her now waist length hair. "Naruto-kun!" Yukie shouted in greeting. She glomped him, and the blond returned the hug. "What are you doing here?"

"Can't I just come to visit my girlfriend?" Naruto asked as he gave her a peck on the cheek. Even though they had been dating for a while now, simple things like that caused both teens to blush.

"Ah Naruto-san, it is good to see you again," Sandayu greeted as he came towards the door. "Are you here to spend a weekend with Yukie again?" Naruto sighed before shaking his head.

"No, I'm actually here to deliver some news."

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" Yukie asked. She noticed the worry on his face. "Did something happen?"

"Things are going really bad at Konoha right now. I'm not going to be able to see you for a long time."

"Oh…" The girl hung her head as she heard those words. "What's happening?"

"I really can't say, but…" Naruto looked away before speaking again, "the Hokage has something big planned. Involving several ANBU captains. I'm on standby, so I'm going to be busy." He then smiled kindly at his girlfriend. "We can worry about that later though, let's just be together all of today okay?" As he said that Yukie looked at him and smiled. She gave him a kiss on the lips and nodded. Looking to Sandayu Naruto spoke, "Any curfew today?"

"It's Saturday so just enjoy yourselves," the girl's manager told them.

"Thank you Sandayu!" Yukie smiled at her guardian, and the two left closing the door behind them. The old man was left smiling at the door the two left in. Ever since Naruto came into their lives, Yukie had been happier and more open about things. It was a god send for him to arrive at their door, changing the closed off princess to the girl she was now.

"I hope whatever is bothering him, will pass over soon. He doesn't understand how much Yukie depends on him. Naruto is the only one keeping her happy most of the time. If he was to disappear, she may go back to her old ways again," Sandayu said to himself. Shaking his head, he went about his day cleaning the room. Sadly, for both Yukie and Sandayu, this will be the last they hear of Naruto Uzumaki for a long long time. The events that will unfold during the following will ensure of that.

(**The Next Day With Itachi)**

"Good morning," Itachi greeted Ayame as he entered Ichiraku's Ramen. The stand was currently empty save for the two family members running the shop, since it was past the lunch rush. The brown haired girl beamed at her boyfriend for a week and went around the counter to hug him. Itachi returned it and gave her a small smile. "How are you doing Ayame-chan?"

"I'm doing great. Business isn't so bad right now," the ramen shop waitress replied. "What are you doing here Itachi-kun?"

"I was wondering, if you and your father would mind going away for a bit? A vacation if you would?"

"Oh! What's this?" Teuchi asked as he wiped some bowls. "Are you offering us a vacation?"

"Yes, I'd be willing to pay for all your expenses." Itachi produced an envelope full of cash.

"But we couldn't do that Itachi-kun!" Ayame exclaimed. "We can't borrow your money!"

"You're not borrowing it, I'm giving it to you." When the two family members stared at him uncertainly Itachi let the desperation on to his face. "Please, accept this. I don't know why, but I want you two to be out of here by tonight. Something big is going to happen, I'm not sure what, but it is going to happen. I have a feeling that you two need to be out of the village by then." Ayame and Teuchi looked at each other before looking back at Itachi and nodding.

"Okay," Teuchi replied. "We'll go. Do you have any ideas to suggest on where should the two of us head?"

"Naruto had Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san head for Tanzaku-Gai. You two should head there too. You should come back within the week," Itachi advised the father daughter pair. The two nodded and Teuchi closed down the shop to start packing. Ayame stayed a bit longer staring at Itachi.

"Are you going to be okay Itachi-kun?" Ayame asked. Itachi sighed and shook his head. His eyes were downcast as he spoke the next few words.

"I'm not sure, this…this may be the last we see of each other for a long time Ayame." He then placed a single kiss on her lips, causing the girl to blush. "Go get ready. When I have time...I'll come find you."

"I-I'll hold you to it." Ayame then turned around and left the boy alone in the room by himself. Itachi closed his eyes and sighed before leaving the building and using a _Shunshin_ to appear next to Naruto on top of the Hokage Monument. The blond had just returned from his little adventure with Yukie that happened the day before.

"So, did you evacuate everyone you cared about?" Naruto asked as he looked at his favorite ramen shop.

"I can't evacuate my family, that would be suspicious. Those two I can however, the shinobi don't know we are dating. At least, they don't know it yet. I hope to keep this in the dark," Itachi replied. He then looked at his partner. "How about you? Did you evacuate those you needed to evacuate?"

"I got baa-chan and nee-chan out," Naruto replied with a grim face. "Jiraiya is out already spying again, and it's not like I can go to Hokage-sama's house and ask his family to just up and leave."

"You really do not trust Hokage-sama right now huh?"

"After his attack on me and all the shit that has been going down, not much." The two thirteen year olds stayed quiet as they looked over Konoha. The sun was at its highest and the two of them just watching the goings of the village. Naruto noticed that Hana, Izumo and Kotetsu were chasing after Tora, causing him to chuckle. He then smiled sadly. "I know you love Konoha more than your family but…"

"But what Naruto?"

"If the village was to turn against you, would you still be faithful to it?" Itachi eyed the blond before sighing.

"I guess I still would. This place is my home and I'd do anything for it." He then smiled to himself. "But if you get into trouble, I'll still follow you. We're partners after all."

"Yeah...Partners." Naruto then turned around to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"Going to retrieve something that belongs to me." After that Naruto used a lightning Shunshin to leave the area. When he was gone, Itachi shivered. That foreboding feeling that the two felt a week ago was now really high. Whatever bad thing was going to happen, it was going to happen that night.

(**With Naruto)**

The blond found himself standing in Training Ground 44, also known as The Forest of Death. Using _Harukaze Miyabi_, the blond made sure that no one else was around him. He really did not want to end up meeting Anko Mitarashi that day. That crazy snake woman would hinder what he needed to do in the forest. Naruto hopped over the fence and ran in the direction where he knew he needed to go. Drawing the sword on his back, he needed to make sure that all those things in his path would be killed, knowing just how dangerous the place was. A few minutes, and several carcasses, later Naruto ended up in front of a gigantic tree. The thing had large roots growing out from the ground, creating a cave of sorts under the bark.

"I know you're in there!" Naruto shouted. "Whoever you are! Apparently you marked me when I was younger, I want to know why!" Time passed slowly, a minute then two. After three minutes of waiting for a response a large yellow furred paw appeared from the space in the tree. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw a lion, about four times his size appear. It had a grey mane and one eye was scarred, leaving it half blind. It large golden solitary eye stared at Naruto impassively. It took a whiff of the air then chuckled.

"**Ah, human, it is good to see you again,**" the beast spoke.

"It is good to see you too lion-san. Thanks for helping me out all those years ago."

"**It was my pleasure. What may I do for you right now young one?"**

"I'm just here to know why you marked me? Apparently I still smell of the saliva you put on me all those years ago, but for some reason I can't smell it." The lion stalked around the area the two were standing in, observing the blond.

"**Why did I mark you? That is what you are asking correct?"** Naruto nodded. **"The answer to that is quiet simple. I see potential in you."**

"Potential?"

"**Yes,., I see you going for in the world, doing things most people would not. Being the leader of men, the savior of lives, one who will rise above the others and rule all!"** The lion roared the last part, causing all the birds nearby to scatter. Even Naruto cringed at the loudness of the lion's roar. **"But that is not all. I see the potential in you to not abuse that power. To be the gentle king, not the evil dictator most people become when they attain strength. I see that potential in you, that is why I marked you."**

"I see. How are you sure I won't really abuse the power I may obtain?"

"**I am not. I just see it, it is up to you on how everything goes." **The lion stalked off back into the tree, only to come back out with a scroll. **"I am willing to take that chance with you child. Show me, show me that I am not wrong with my choice. Sign our summon scroll and be the lion summoner."** The lion dropped the scroll in front of Naruto. The blond carefully walked up to it and opened it. Scrolling down it, he found that it was only signed by one previous person: Eiji Uzumaki. Now that confused Naruto a great bit, but he'd ask later. For now, he had a scroll to sign. Biting his thumb, Naruto wrote his name in blood along side his fellow Uzumaki member before showing it to the large lion.

"Is this fine?" Naruto asked.

"**Another Uzumaki eh? You don't have the signature red hair, but nevertheless I welcome you Naruto Uzumaki. I am Kinshi, leader of the lion summons! My clan and I are at your service!"** Naruto smiled. He had his own set of summons now. **"For now I must go, I have been out in the human world far too long. I need some rest, visit my family again."**

"You go do that, but before you go I have a question for you?" Kinshi stopped and looked at Naruto. "Who is Eiji Uzumaki?" The lion gave what seemed to be a smile before laughing.

"**He was our summoner until he made a contract with another set of animals," **Kinshi replied. **"However, while he was with us we called him by a title, the Implacable Emperor."** After that, the lion disappeared in a giant plume of smoke leaving Naruto by himself.

"Emperor huh? I wonder…"

**(Nightfall)**

"What sort of lame ass mission is this?" Naruto shouted as he and Itachi ran through a forest. "Deliver a message to a group of ninja? This is C-Rank bullshit! Also where is the rest of our squad! We could have made them do this!"

"Something doesn't feel right," Itachi muttered as the two made their way across the forest. "Why would they send us away on a night mission like this?"

"I hear you, something is definitely up right now." Naruto stopped immediately as he felt something enter his dome of air. "Itachi six o'clock!" Both boys dodged the shuriken aimed at them.

"_Katon: Hosenka no jutsu!"_ Itachi turned around and shot several fire balls into the canopy. The leaves burst into flames and several figures landed on the branch of a near by tree. Ten Konoha ANBu were looking back at them. "Why are you here?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, you are convicted for conspiring to over throw our current Hokage. Itachi Uchiha, you are convicted for being an accomplice to the Uzumaki-san, along with the rest of the Uchiha clan," the leader of the group stated. "Under the Hokage's orders, you are both sentenced to death." When the ANBU moved, Itachi jumped back onto another tree branch, while Naruto dropped down and swung forward using the branch he was standing on. Five of the ANBU went after Itachi while, another five went after Naruto. Those going after Itachi were surprised when they stepped on the branch the duo were previously standing on.

"KAI!" Naruto shouted as the branch exploded. Two out of the five were sent to the forest floor, unconscious while the other three manage to dodge the blast. Those following Naruto stopped for a moment to turn back towards their comrades, when two senbon embedded themselves in the neck of two of them, knocking them out as well.

Itachi led the trio of ANBU away from Naruto and stopped before doing a few hand seals. His Sharingan was a blaze and he focused on one of the shinobi after him. One of the ANBU stopped, finding himself trapped within a tree as sakura petals fell all around him. He knew he was in a jutsu, but it was already too late. An image of Itachi emerged from the tree and slammed a kunai into the man's head. Outside of the ANBU's mind, his partners saw the man collapse all of a sudden. "Beware of genjutsus!" one of them shouted. The two jumped into action and lunged at Itachi. When one of them saw that he was doing hand seals, he used Shunshin to appear behind the boy. "I won't let you do another genjutsu."

"_Bunshin Daibakuha!_" 'Itachi' shouted. The clone then exploded, causing the man to slam through several trees. Righting himself on another branch, the ANBU felt something hit his solar plexus. He looked up to see Itachi glaring down at him. "Sleep." The Uchiha placed a genjutsu on his opponent, dropped him on to the branch and drew his katana to ward off the third member of the group attacking him. The two traded slashes for a couple of seconds, before Itachi dropped into a crouch and did a sweep kick. The ANBU member jumped to avoid it, but found handle of Itachi's katana flying towards his face. When it connected, the ANBU member tried to right himself but found that Itachi had grabbed him by the foot and slammed him against the tree trunk. A well aimed punch to the throat knocking him out later.

Naruto was fairing just as well with his trio. "_Burakku Sheru!"_ Naruto's right fist connected with the face of one ANBU member, cracking the porcelain mask and sending him spiraling through a tree branch and landing unconscious on the branch beneath it. He then turned around and caught the punch of another one of his opponents. "_Raiton: Gian!" _The blond heavily toned down the power of the attack and sent him flying through the forest. The last member made two clones that went on the attack, in which Naruto managed to punched each of them making them dispel rather easily. Naruto then disappeared in yellow blur only to appear right in front of the last member. His finger tips were placed onto the guy's chest. "First stance, second style: _Genbu (Black Tortoise)!" _Naruto then did a one inch punch right onto the man's chest, embedding his opponent into the trunk of the tree and causing him to spit out blood. When he noticed the guy stop breathing, he felt worried. Placing two fingers onto his neck to feel a pulse he was happy to find one, albeit weak.

Itachi landed next to him and Naruto frowned. "We need to hurry back. If what they said was right, your family is in trouble."

(**Back in Konoha)**

The Uchiha clan compound was utterly silent, but that betrayed what was happening inside it. Throughout the entire compound a mass slaughter was occurring. Each and every Uchiha was being killed in the dead of night. This assault was being led by Kakashi Hatake and his junior Tenzo. They did not like what they were doing, but they must do it, for the better of Konoha. They were told to spare no one, not even the elders or children were to be left alive.

"Kya-!" an Uchiha woman barely managed to get out when Kakashi shoved blade through her chest. Pulling it out he saw his ninjas moving through the district.

"Senpai, this doesn't feel right," Tenzo told him as he appeared next to Kakashi.

"I know, but if what Minato-sensei said was true," Kakashi sighed, "then these people were trying to do a coup, led by Uzumaki-taicho."

"I know the two did not get along, but for him to stage a coup against his own village?"

"Well, someone from Iwagakure did it too. Tried to kill their Tsuchikage, maybe it's a new trend." Kakashi sighed again. "Let's just get this over with." As the two stepped out of the building a large ball of flames came straight at them. The two dodged and were surprised to see none other than Shisui standing in front of them. Next to him was the patron of the Uchiha clan, Fugaku.

"What is the meaning of this senseless massacre Hatake?" Fugaku demanded. "Why are you killing my people!"

"You are aiding a known criminal Fugaku-san," Minato said as he appeared in a flash of yellow. "Helping Naruto Uzumaki try and over throw my rule."

"Hokage-sama!" Both Kakashi and Tenzo bowed their heads.

"Minato what are you saying? Why would we betray Konoha? What reason would we, or Naruto for the matter do that?" Fugaku asked.

"It's rather obvious isn't it?" Minato replied. "He hates me. He doesn't like me for what I am and what I did to him. If he over throws me, he'll be able to rejoin the family without my interference." Minato took a step forward, causing the Uchiha duo to step back. "Now, he had you guys following him rather easily, so he'd have an army just to pull this over my eyes. Luckily, I caught on to his little plan early enough so I can stop him."

"Are you insane?"

"No, I'm just cautious." Fugaku right there and then knew that Minato would not listen to him. Looking at Shisui he nodded and the boy used _Shunshin_ to leave the area. "Kakashi, Tenzo go after him. Kill him if you need to." The two men looked at each other then nodded. They jumped after the wayward Uchiha, but were surprised that Fugaku got in their way.

"I will not let you get him." Fugaku ducked the flying kunai and jumped away in just in time to dodge a well placed _Rasengan. _He did however get caught by a punch on his chest.

"Go, I'll handle Fugaku." The two men nodded again and left. "It's just you and me Fugaku, so why don't you lay down and die peacefully?" Fugaku scowled and glared at the Hokage.

"What happened to you Minato?" Fugaku asked. "You've changed these past few years. What happened to the man who was my friend, the father of my son's best friend, the kind caring husband that his wife was to proud to have? What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened to me. I just saw the world in a different light."

"A different light? You disowned your own son for no reason! You apparently cheated on your wife! You are committing a massacre of my clan just on illogical ideas you have in your head! Whatever light you are talking about, seems to be dark Minato! You are not the great Hokage you were all those years ago! You have changed for the worse!" Minato gave Fugaku a bored look and asked.

"Is you little speech done yet?" the blond asked. "Because if it is…" There was a yellow flash and the sound of metal cutting into flesh a second later. Fugaku looked down and saw that Minato's three pronged kunai was stabbed deep into his gut, and he felt the blood oozing through his shirt. "I'd like for you to just be quiet and die." The Hokage then pulled out the kunai out of the Uchiha patron. "Oh one last thing? Where is Mikoto and Sasuke? I'd like to save them. I mean we wouldn't want the whole Sharingan to disappear do we? I'll probably take Mikoto as a mistress and have Sasuke grow up with Kakashi. I mean, Itachi and Naruto should be dead on the forest floor by now. I sent several ANBU captains after them." Fugaku raised his head towards Minato and spat out blood onto the man's white cloak. The blond glared before turning around to leave the dying man on his own.

(**With Shisui)**

The Uchiha prodigy was easily handle the two ANBU members well. Using his speed, he was able to out maneuver both Kakashi and Tenzo. He only managed to put glancing strikes onto the two of them, since both of them were just skilled as he was.

"_Raikiri (Lightning Cutter)!"_ Kakashi shouted as his left hand was coated in to a large amount of electricity. He burst forward with speed that matched Shisui. The Uchiha headed straight on towards the charging man, and ducked at the last minute using his Sharingan to predict where the attack would go. Slamming his palm into the man's chest, he sent him skidding back a few meters. Shisui had to jump back when several branches of wood erupted from the earth. Making use of his speed, Shisui appeared right in front of Tenzo and activated his Sharingan. Placing a genjutsu on the man with one order, kill Kakashi Hatake. Tenzo's eyes glazed over and he attacked the silver haired man. "Tenzo what are you doing?" "Must kill Kakashi," Tenzo said in a zombie like voice. As the two clashed, Shisui turned and rushed toward the main house where Fugaku and his family lived. Dashing through the building, he threw open the door.

"Mikoto-sama!" Shisui shouted as he ran from room to room. Worry lit his face as he slid each door open, only to find her in the last room in the building. She was looking at him with wide eyes and was covering Sasuke with her hands. "Mikoto-sama we need to leave."

"What is happening out there?" Mikoto demanded. Shisui walked in and hauled her up to her feet. Sasuke was whimpering as his mother carried him, despite being 7 years old.

"They're massacring everyone, the shinobi of Konoha think we betrayed them." Shisui was hurriedly leading them out of the building. Shisui poked his head out of the door and saw that no one was around. He felt around for a chakra signature and found none. "Let's go now, Mikoto sama." Just as he stepped out of the building, a three pronged kunai fell from the sky and landed right in front of him. Using all of his body's reflexes, Shisui just barely managed to dodge the attack. Standing in front of them now was the Yondaime Hokage, with a very disarming smile on his face.

"Hello Mikoto-san, Sasuke-kun how are you?" Minato greeted.

"You monster! Why are you doing this?" Mikoto demanded. In her arms, Sasuke was trembling. Shisui was looking around carefully, trying to find a way out with at least Mikoto and Sasuke surviving.

"Well, I would explain but that would be like the fourth time I did that this night. I really don't want to repeat myself over and over again." He then smiled and strolled forward. "Now if Shisui would just lay down and die, everything would be so much easier. I'll take both you and Sasuke in. I'll treat you as I would my wife, and I'll treat Sasuke as if he were my own son."

"What! You've gone mad Minato!" Mikoto shouted. "Like I'd ever join you after what you did here. Besides, I would never leave Fugaku!"

"Oh? Even though he's dead, you won't leave him?"

"Wh-What?" Mikoto's eyes widened and her body began to shake. When Sasuke heard that his father was dead he started to cry. "You-You're lying! Fugaku can't be dead!"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he is. I stabbed him rather well."

"You monster!" Shisui shouted as he rushed over to attack. Minato used _Hiraishin_ and disappeared. Shisui didn't even have time to react, for the Hokage teleported himself to the exact same spot and grabbed the boy's leg. The blond monster then slammed him onto the ground, and stomped onto the man's knee breaking it. The younger boy let out a scream of immense pain.

Mikoto flinched and had to suppress the scream. She also turned Sasuke away and covering his ears. "Let's see that speed yours now. Just to be sure though." Minato then smashed Shisui's other knee in. The young man let out another scream. "Now, please just die." Minato raised up a kunai and brought it down upon the boy on the floor.

"_Koutei no Ryuu: Nenshou Giri (Emperor's Style: Burning Slash)!"_ Several sickle like blades of flame flew through the air towards Minato. The Hokage saw them coming and used Hiraishin to escape the assault. He reappeared onto top of the roof only to find a fist covered in flames millimeters away from his face. Then the punch connected, throwing the man through a concrete wall. Mikoto's eyes widened when Naruto dropped down next to her, his eyes full of anger. Then Itachi appeared as well, his eyes with the same fury as in Naruto's. "How is it?"

"Most of the clan is dead," Itachi whispered. "Otou-san is as well. The only one's left alive are the ones with us right now." The blond saw both Mikoto and Sasuke trembling in fear, while Shisui was rolling in pain.

"Get them out of here." The blond looked at his partner. "Get them as far away as possible, while you do that I'll hold them off."

"Naruto don't…" Mikoto stated. The blond noticed the worry, desperation and fear in her voice as she spoke. "You're going to die if you stay."

"I know that. That won't stop me though. I need answers and the only one who will proved them are the Hokage."

"But that's suicide!"

"It is my choice Mikoto-sama."

"But-!"

"Mikoto-sama as your superior I order you to stand down and listen to what I say!" Naruto roared. That made Mikoto recoil in shock as he shouted at her. His eyes were set in a firm stare and she could only nod at him. "Itachi get them out of here." He then turned to the now crippled Shisui. "Do you think you can make it?"

"With my legs broken, I don't think so. I think I'm going to die here," Shisui grunted. "Itachi, use one of your crow summons and come here." Itachi summoned a crow just like he was told and went over to Shisui. The older Uchiha reached over and grabbed his left eye. Naruto looked away as his older brother figure ripped out his own eye. Mikoto made a gagging noise as Shisui replaced the eye of the crow with his own. "This will help you out one day. Now kill me, I don't want to slow you guys down." Itachi sighed and closed his eye. Pulling the katana from his back, he stabbed his second best friend next to Naruto. Tears were pooling around Itachi's eyes, just as were Naruto's. The Uchiha teen rushed through several hand seals and burned the body.

"Let's go mother," Itachi told the last two remaining Uchiha. As Itachi started showing them out of the compound, Naruto saw several ANBU members approaching.

"Itachi don't forget our plan okay. We'll meet up later," Naruto shouted out. His partner didn't say a thing but sped his family out. Naruto looked forward and was met by the glare of one Minato Namikaze. Next to him Kakashi and an unconscious Tenzo on his shoulder.

"Ah Naruto, you're stayed behind to let the others get away. How…noble of you," Minato sneered.

"Wow, coming from you that sounds like an insult," he shot back. "So are you going to kill me now?" Naruto then turned his head in several directions. "I mean I can't be able to escape with all these ANBU covering the greater part of the whole Uchiha district no?" Hokage frowned then did a motion with his hand, and several ninjas with masks appeared. "Wow, an entire platoon just for me? You must think of me as a big threat huh Minato-teme?"

"How dare you speak to Hokage-sama like that you traitor!" one of the ninjas shouted.

"Oh, you must have found out about my not so secret to take over Konoha huh?" Naruto asked sarcastically, completely ignoring the other ninjas only focusing on Minato. "But I do suggest that you kill me now. I mean if you don't do so now, I may just escape."

"You won't escape," Minato spoke. "I know you won't. You want answers, so you'll stay right there won't you?"

"Heh? You know me that well don't you? Must make you feel good to know your son all that well?" The some of the newer ANBU members gasped and the Hokage narrowed his eyes. In less than a second he smashed his fist against Naruto's face.

"Chain him up, seal his chakra and put him in cell. We're having a public execution tomorrow at noon," Minato stated in an even tone. "This will show those who are thinking of overthrowing me that I am not a person to mess around with." Naruto knew he was talking about Danzou, since there was some tension between those two as well. Naruto frowned but didn't fight against the people who descended upon him.

**(Next Day-Dawn)**

Naruto sat in rags with a chakra suppressing seal on his neck. His eyes were closed as he sat in a dirty cell waiting for his own execution to begin. There were two guards standing outside of his small little prison. So far no one had come to visit him. He didn't mind though, most of the people he knew he made sure to stay away. That was why he was surprised when the door to the outside world was opened. His ears perked up as he heard footsteps coming towards his cell. When they stopped, he knew the person was in front of his cell.

"How could you dot his Naruto?" a female's voice echoed around him. It belonged to one Yugao Uzuki. "How could you and Itachi just betray Konoha!" Naruto didn't open his eyes as he sat there listening. "Answer me Naruto! Don't you dare ignore me!" He heard her start sobbing. "Why would you two do this? You both loved Konoha, you both would have done anything for it!" While she kept sobbing, the blond said absolutely nothing. "I looked up to both of you," he heard Yugao whisper. "You two were my best friends and models of who I wanted to be...but then you go and do this…I don't know what to think any more." The silence after that was only filled by her sobs. After a couple more minutes of that, he heard her whisper, "Goodbye Naruto."

When he heard her leave, Naruto let out a sigh. He would have responded, but he needed to focus at the moment. He needed to focus collecting himself before the time was up. While he kept meditating, he heard another set of footsteps. "Open the cell," he heard another female voice command.

"But Kushina-sama!"

"I said open the cell!" Naruto heard fumbling before the rusted creaking of rusted iron filled the air. He heard the footsteps, felt the imposing figure's presence in front of him, even could feel the emotions of anger, sadness and betrayal coming from the Namikaze woman. "How long were you planning this?" Kushina demanded. "How long did you use me and my family to get closer to my husband? How could you play our emotions like that!" Just as he did with Yugao, he remained silent. "Answer me damnit!" Naruto felt a pressure hit the stone wall behind him, guessing that Kushina kicked it. "Was it all a ploy? Just to get close to Minato? All the time we spent together, the care you showed for my daughters was that all just an act? Did you not feel anything when you had spent time with me?"

When she was met with silence Kushina growled. Her heart broke when she heard that Naruto, her student and friend, was staging a coup. She didn't want to believe it. She did not want to believe that the boy who had given her five of the best years in her life would do something like this. When Tsubaki found out she locked herself in her room and even Yuri, who butted heads with Naruto often, was saddened by the news. Was it all just a lie to them? Kushina spared Naruto, the thirteen year old criminal, one last glance before heading towards the opening. When she was about to leave she head his voice. "Tsubaki's room, her desk, second draw to the right," Naruto whispered. "You'll find something of interest there."

"What?" Kushina turned around but the blond was quiet again. Knowing that may have been the last time he would speak, she kept her words in her mind and headed home. Whatever he left behind must be important...or dangerous, so she needed to go there fast.

**(Noon)**

Naruto found himself kneeling in front of the entire population of Konoha, atop a platform in front of the Hokage tower. Several ANBU were situated around him and probably within the crowd, in case of any attempts at escape. There were two ninjas standing on either side of him, with blades at the ready. Behind him, on top of the tower, Naruto knew Minato was smirking down at him.

"People of Konoha, we gather her to execute a threat to our village. The traitorous ANBU captain, Naruto Uzumaki!" Minato announced. Several boos were heard, but Naruto paid no mind. His eyes were scanning the crowd for familiar faces. He saw the shocked faces of Hana, Kotetsu, Izumo and their families. He saw his old friend Iruka. Hell, he saw all his old classmates watching him on the stands. The blond drowned out the speech that his old father was giving as he kept scanning the crowd. Danzou and Sarutobi were up front both with disappointed faces, although at who he did not know. As he kept searching, he tried his hardest not to do anything stupid. He was only brought back to attention when one of the ANBU hit him.

"The Hokage asked you a question," he grunted. Naruto inclined his head towards his back.

"Any last words?" Minato asked.

"I just have a question," Naruto stated. It was silent until Minato spoke again.

"I'll hear it."

"Good, my question is why all the dramatics? You could have just killed me yesterday and been done with?"

"To show the world that they do not mess with Konoha!" The crowd cheered, making Naruto roll his eyes. Then the blond started to laugh manically. The crowd's cheering slowly died down as the blond kept laughing harder. "He's lost his mind," Minato told the ninjas. "Kill him."

"As you wish sir!" The two ninjas raised their blades as Naruto took in a deep breath after his laugh.

"_Ninpo: Shishi Todoroki (Ninja Art: Lion's Roar)!"_ Naruto literally roared, with the sound being amplified in some odd way. Everyone around the platform, fell to their knees holding their ears in pain for the sound was too loud. As people were struggling to get up, a pair of shuriken cut through the ropes that confined Naruto. The blond saw a pair of Sharingan look at him before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. While people were still getting their baring, Naruto punched one of the guards grabbed a three pronged kunai from their pouch and ran using his _Raiton no Yoroi._

As he made his way past all the people and avoided all the ninja, he made it to the southern gate without conflict. As he passed through the gate he threw the special kunai and placed his hands together. " _Rai Fuin (Lightning Seal)! Arashi Fuin (Storm Seal)!"_ The gate and the surrounding walls were then electrified. The portal was then sealed off by a screen of Ranton chakra. Just as the seal finished being set up, Minato appeared behind the screen in a yellow flash. The man slammed a _Rasengan _into the screen but found it bouncing back. "Don't bother, it will repel that move. I put it up there ages ago thinking that something like this would happen. Also the seals are on this side of the wall so you can't do much. And really? Did you think a simple chakra suppression seal would work on me? I was taught by Kushina _and_ Jiraiya on sealing. Having that put on me was like a freaking water tattoo."

"Why call me here then Naruto? If you were going to make an escape, it would be better if you had done so without me being here. Heck you could have done it last night!" Minato shouted. "Why let yourself be captured?"

"I needed to deliver a message, and get an answer to one question." Naruto then pointed at him. "Who the fuck are you?"

"What are you blabbering on about? I am Minato!"

"That is bullshit! Who are you! Last night, when you got mad, your eyes turned red and into slits for a split second! Tell me who the fuck you are!"

"I am Minato and no one else you fool!" Naruto then saw it happen again, for a split second his eyes turned red and feral. He also felt a demonic presence in him. Feeling almost like...The blond's eyes widened.

'_He really is Minato, but there is the presence of the Kyuubi in him, a rather angry part. Something happened that night, the night of the sealing went wrong!_ _I can't do anything about right now. I need information!_' Naruto then frowned. "I think it's time to go, but before I do." The blond stretched out his right hand and surprisingly formed a _Rasengan_ in it.

"How did you learn that?" Minato asked. He knew the seal was fading, the crackling of the electricity was disappearing. Only a few more seconds two minutes at the most.

"Jiraiya taught it to me but," Naruto put his arm out and the swirling blue ball turned into a white one, "I created this. _Ranton: Rasentaihou (Storm Release: Spiraling Canon)!" _ The spiraling mass of flowing lightning shot out of his palm and proceeded to decimate the entire gate, making it fall in on Minato. This caused the Hokage to jump back, and could only watch as the blond left, but not before running a finger encased with fuuton chakra to make a scratch on his forehead protector.

**(The Next Two Days)**

By order of the Hokage, a new bingo book was made and mass produced. In it two new names were added:_ Naruto Uzumaki _and _Itachi Uchiha_. Both were listed as S-Ranked ninjas and were put as kill on sight. Everyone within the Elemental Nations who were allies, even enemies when they got their hands on the bingo book, knew about them now. The two strongest ANBU captains of Konoha had managed to escape capture and were now nuke-nins.

**(With Kushina)**

Kushina waited a day before looking for the thing Naruto spoke about. Going into Tsubaki's room while the girl ate her lunch, she opened the drawer Naruto spoke about. Unrolling it, Kushina found a small note at the very beginning.

_Kushina-sama, if you have this that means something bad happened to me. Then I beg you, to ignore whatever I have been accused by and apply some chakra and your blood onto the seal. I know that if you are reading this, chances are that you don't trust me, but please just do it this once. It took me five years to make with your help, so please do not let my effort go to waste._

_Naruto_

Kushina stared at the note and the scroll and debated about it. Should she trust the word of a now convicted criminal? After a few minutes of deliberation, she decided that she'd try out the seal. The red headed woman still believed that there was some goodness in the heart of her student and friend. "Alright Naruto...I'll do it," she whispered to herself. Unfurling it even more, she found the place where to put her blood. Biting her thumb she smeared it across the seal and focused some chakra on it. In that moment, everything went black.

A few minutes later, Tsubaki found the unconscious woman on the floor of her bedroom. "Okaa-san!" she shouted. Running up to her mother, Tsubaki shook her until she responded. Grey eyes slowly opened and looked at Tsubaki. "Okaa-san are you alright?"

"Tsu-baki?" Kushina muttered.

"Yeah it is me. What happened?"

"I applied some chakra into a scroll then I blanked out…" Suddenly something popped up into her head. Clutching it, she tried to will the headache away, but found she couldn't. She was assaulted by images, memories and all sorts of other things about a young blond boy who looked no older than five years old. Her eyes slowly widened to the size of saucers. She remembered, she remembered everything. Kushina remembered her son.

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><p><strong>Author's End Note: <strong>What do you think? Was it good? Was it bad? Leave a review.


	17. Talks

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for all the reviews, likes, faves, etc. Again, if I felt that your review needed to be responded to, I have sent you an email. Here is the new chapter, which has been beta-ed by **Naginator**, thanks again bud. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

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><p>It had been a four days since the escape of the group from Konoha. Naruto, Itachi and the last remaining Uchiha clan members were all standing around an old Uchiha hideout. In there were several cats and humanoid ones as well. Naruto was leaning against the wall, his face deep in concentration, while Itachi was pacing. Mikoto and Sasuke were put into a bedroom, sleeping due to the shock of what occurred. Even though Mikoto was a jounin, she still was not prepared for the mass slaughter of her people. "So what do we do now?" Itachi asked.<p>

"How should I know you're the one usually making the plans," Naruto sighed. "But I need to get into contact with some people, namely Sarutobi-jiji."

"How are you going to do that?" Itachi asked. "They'll probably be monitoring all the couriers and all other modes of communication." The blond pulled out a piece of paper and sighed again.

"Let's hope that this paper I received from Kushina-sama a few months back will work." Naruto then place the piece of paper on the table and Itachi stood over him.

"What is it?"

"Well, Kushina-sama had given up making this seal that transported script from one place to another. She placed it on several pieces of paper and kept them in a drawer. One day, when I was looking through her seals I found this. Sadly it is still faulty and needs a lot of work. This is the best I can get to communicating with anyone in Konoha."

"How many people did you give this paper too?" Itachi asked, completely intrigued by the idea.

"I gave it to no one. I _left _them on several people's desks in their home. Tsunade, Jiji, Tsume-san to name a few. So far those are the only people I can trust. Hopefully, hopefully this will work."

"How do you send them to a specific piece?"

"All of them are numbered. I kept number one, the master piece. I just write the number in the top corner before writing what I need to write."

"Interesting."

"Well, here goes nothing. Let us hope this works out well." Naruto grabbed a pen and wrote the number three on the top right corner, before writing his message.

**(Back in Konoha)**

Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed for the umpteenth time that day. He really wished that things had not gone as they had. He wished that Naruto was in Konoha still, for he missed his surrogate grandson. Things had not gone so well for the blond boy, and Sarutobi was disheartened he couldn't, no didn't, do anything about it. He saw the changes in Minato occurring, but could not really do anything for the lack of evidence. The massacre that night before Naruto's failed execution was the farthest Minato had gone. When he came to the council about it, he had produced "evidence" of the Uchiha's and Naruto's betrayal.

The old man scoffed. If you could call letters between Naruto and the Uchiha clan about a coup evidence. Sarutobi couldn't call out Minato on that. The writing, from what he noticed, was Naruto's but there were some words he'd never use. Nevertheless, almost all the people were convinced. Those within Naruto and Itachi's squad were struggling to cope with the fact that something like that happened, and Sarutobi knew something had to have changed their minds. Something occurred between the small time frame in which the two ANBU captains were sent on a mission and the time of the massacre.

Not only that, for some odd reason all of the duo's close friends were believing the facts that Minato had showed. The old man was betting on corrupted Yamanaka's being paid off, but again he had no evidence. So here he was now at his desk in his home, wondering the fate of two boys and the family of one. As he sat there, he suddenly heard a tiny screeching noise coming from within the drawer of his desk. Curious, he opened it and found a parchment that seemed to be shining. Slowly grabbing the paper, he noted few words appearing on it.

N: _**Hello...Sarutobi-jii? R U readin tis?**_

Now that surprised the old man. '_Where did Naruto get something like this?'_he thought. Grabbing a brush he wrote down the number one in the corner, then wrote down something.

S: _**Naruto is that really you?**_

The former Hokage watched as the ink disappeared into the paper then a few short minutes later some new words.

N: _**Holy shiiit tis actualy works? Although grammer neads to get translaated better from juan paper to anudder. Yes tis I Narudo!**_

The old man smiled before his face became stern. The boy was on the run, and he was willing to contact him, albeit in such an odd fashion. The old man began to write again.

S: _**Naruto where are you? What is happening? Explain to me what is going on.**_

Sarutobi watched as the ink disappeared, but waited several minutes before the response reappeared, this one was quite lengthy.

N: _**Mi nd Iitachii cant sae where wii r at tha moement, wi r in hiding. Wi r safe though. Lisen, bad thins r hapening in Konoha. Hokage is not who hi says hi is. Sumthin wrong happened durin tha sealing. Do not trust hiim. Protec Kuseena-sama and daughters. Her memories shuld b back nao. Make sure shi stays away from Meenatoo. Keep dem safe!**_

Now that was rather informative. The Hokage's eyes were wide after translating and reading the words. Something was wrong with Minato? Kushina should have her memories back? Now things were starting to click in Sarutobi's head. Everything that has happened so far has been due to whatever happened during the sealing. His eyes then widened. Kushina could be in trouble right now.

S: _**Naruto, I will be back later. I need to check on Kushina now. If anything, she and the girls may be in trouble. I'll contact you later.**_

After writing that, Sarutobi hid the piece of paper hidden within a journal. He then placed it into the drawer and left his home. As to not appear suspicious, he only walked at a brisk pace. His eyes scanned the people as he walked. Even after a few days, the people were still in a frenzy about the two criminals who fled from Konoha. News of what happened was still being passed from person to person. The gossip usually was about how the one who lead them was willing to get caught only to make a grand exit. Deciding to ignore them, Sarutobi headed towards the Namikaze household at a faster pace.

As he arrived, he noted all the guards waiting at the doors and upon the roofs. When the ninja saw him, they moved aside and let him enter. He noted that there were a few Hyuuga on the roofs to make sure that he was the real deal. As he entered the household, he noticed it was rather quiet. "Kushina?" he called out. "Kushina where are you?"

"Hello, Hiruzen-sama," Tsubaki greeted him. The red haired girl had bags under her eyes and they were red, probably due to the crying. "What are you doing?"

"I'm here to see your mother. Where is she?"

"Okaa-san locked herself in her room and activated the seals. I think she's hiding from otou-san." The red haired girl then looked at the old man. "Are you here to help her?"

"In a way, yes."

"Then please follow me." The little girl led him up the stairs and in front of a set of double doors. Standing in front of it was Yuri.

"Mom please open the door!" the blond begged. "You need to eat! It's been two days!" From the other side of the door there was no noise at all. "Mom please!" When no response came again, Yuri sighed. Turning around, she saw that Sarutobi was with them. "Hiruzen-sama!" the blond bowed. "You need to help my mom! She won't come out of her room!"

"I think I know how to fix this," the old man told reassured her. He knocked on the door and spoke, "Kushina, it is me, Hiruzen. I need you to open the door." Again there was no response. "Don't worry, I'm not here on your husband's behalf. I came by another person's request." There was still nothing coming from the other side of the door. The old man then turned around and looked at the girls before sighing. This was the only thing that would make her open the door but this will also shake the foundations on which the little girls have lived by. "Kushina...I have news about your son."

Both Yuri and Tsubaki, turned to each other with confused looks. They were both thinking the same thing, they had a brother? They then looked back at the door and saw it flash blue as the seals went down and Kushina barely opened it an inch. Her steel grey eyes were staring Sarutobi straight in the face, hope in her eyes. "You know where he is?" she whispered. She saw the old man shake his head, and became dejected.

"I do not know where he is, but I have made contact with him. That is why I need to speak to you." Kushina looked around before opening the door wider.

"You are lucky I disabled all of the bugs here before you spoke Hiruzen-sama." The old man entered the room, along with the two girls who were rather curious about what this was all about. How come neither one of the parents spoke about their brother? Slowly Kushina closed the door and reapplied the seals again. "Now tell me what do you know of my son?"

"He is staying put at the moment at a safe place, but I don't know how long it will be before they do something again. He only told me to protect you and keep you away form Minato."

"Keep me away from him? Keep me away from that monster!" Kushina demanded. "Why does my own son expect me to not get near the man who ruined my relationship with him! Why does he expect me to not rip the bastard a new one after all this time! Does my own son think I can't handle myself against my own husband! Does he not think I want to beat up the man who tore my only son away from my family?"

"I'm not sure what your son was thinking when he said that, but I am sure it has something to do with the circumstances around Minato."

"Oh and what would that be?"

"Something happened to him during the night of the sealing. He hasn't specified what yet, but it must have affected Minato, making him change to what he is now. Again, I couldn't let him explain, but I will find out later." He then nodded his head. "Your son is a rather resourceful boy. He took something from you and made it workable."

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked confused.

"He contacted me using a piece of paper that sends words back and forth between two places. He said he got it from you." Kushina's eyes widened before she smiled slightly.

"He really is a good kid."

"You are right. I would not expect any less from Naruto." The two adults heard a gasp and remembered they were not alone in the room. Tsubaki was covering her mouth with her hands while Yuri looked like she was about to fall down due to shock.

"Naruto-sama...is my brother?" Tsubaki gasped.

"That man is my brother?" Yuri muttered.

"Girls…" Kushina spoke.

"What are you two talking about!" Yuri shouted. "How can that man be my brother? Sure he looks like dad and has your maiden name, but that is coincidence right? I mean, I'm not related to a criminal right?" Yuri looked like she was having a breakdown. "I can't be related to that man! He's too uptight, self-righteous, intrusive…" She then pointed at her mother and Sarutobi. "You two! Naruto must have fooled you two into believing that! My mother would never conspire against dad! He's a good man and a great father!"

"He tore your brother away from me when you were born!" Kushina shouted back. "Thirteen years being away from my son, thirteen years! Do you know that your father put a seal on me that stowed away my memories of Naruto! Five years of my life that was altered to not remembering having a child until you two came along!" Kushina took a deep breath and saw that Yuri was close to tears due to all the shouting, while Tsubaki still seemed lost in thought.

"Don't get me wrong Yuri, I love you girls. I love you with all my heart, but I love my son too. Then when he came back into my life I was so happy, even though I didn't know he was my son. Do you know how happy I felt then, even though my feelings for him were so confusing? I felt so happy. Something in me clicked when I met him again. Now that I see I've missed a few years of my son's life and I'm mad at the man who took him away from me."

Kushina then took a deep breath again to calm herself down. She had started to cry a bit during her little speech. "I know you girls are too young to understand what is going on but you need to listen to me. Your father has been doing bad things for awhile now. Things that have been hurting our family."

Yuri was shaking her head no over and over again, not wanting to believe that her father, the greatest man she knew, would do something like that. Tsubaki on the other hand had a different reaction. She walked up to her mother, giving her a hug and a smile. This surprised all those present.

"I...believe you okaa-san," Tsubaki told her. "I...always had a feeling that Naruto-sama was related to us in a way." Her smile then widened. "Besides, I always liked Naruto-sama and otou-san feels odd. He's not like he used to be a while back. He's a bit more paranoid now."

"Tsubaki! I can't believe your saying that too! How can you agree with all this craziness? How can you speak about dad that way!" Yuri shouted. "I'm going to tell dad!"

"Yuri, don't tell your father this please," Kushina pleaded her. "If he even gets any idea that I remember anything, he may start doing bad things to me again." Her eyes were begging her daughter. "I don't want to forget anything again. Please, Yuri don't do this."

"I'm still going to tell dad." Just as the blond girl was about to leave, Hiruzen used _Shunshin _to get behind her. He gave her a weak chop to the neck and knocked her out. The old man caught her before she hit the floor.

"What did you do to her?" Tsubaki asked as she went to her sister. The former Hokage had placed her on the bed and looked at Kushina.

"I just knocked her out," Sarutobi replied. "And Kushina what are you going to do about Yuri?"

"I could put a seal on her…" Kushina sighed, "but that would make me the same monster as my husband. I really don't want to do that to my own child."

"Then how will you keep her quiet?"

"I don't know." The old man stayed quiet before nodding.

"I'll update Naruto on everything then. I'll also tell him that he can speak to you now."

"Thank you," Kushina smiled. The old man left after the seals went down again before being replied. As he left Kushina looked back at her blond daughter. "What am I going to do with you?"

**(With Naruto, an hour later)**

Naruto stared at the piece of paper after the words notifying him that he can now speak to Kushina with barely any trouble. Of course the crappy words that would be going back and forth between them were annoying, but he could get over that easily. What he had to worry about though was Yuri. Yuri was apparently a daddy's girl, one that could mess up all the chances of freeing Kushina, the girls, and even Minato himself from whatever the hell is happening to the blond man.

Naruto looked around the hideout and noticed that Itachi went to check on his family. Naruto took a pen and slowly wrote the number four in the corner. Taking a deep breath, he wondered what he should write to his mother after all this time.

N: _**Hello Kushina-sama…How are you?**_

Naruto watched the ink disappear slowly and waited. The reply took minutes, about twenty minutes, to appear on his paper.

K: _**Hello…Narudo-kun. I m fiin, for noa. How r u?**_

The blond smiled slowly, at least he knew the women would be okay. The only person who can get the paper would have been Kushina, since he hid it in a place where only she could go to: her underwear drawer. Naruto felt rather weird when he actually saw the type of underwear his mom wore: thongs, lace and a whole variety._'Note to self, suppress memories of okaa-san's underwear. Do not need the images of her in just underwear running rampant in my mind,'_he thought to himself.

Taking up the pen again he wrote down.

N: _**I'm doing as well as I can be. I heard from jiji that Yuri is being a handful again?**_

K: _**She is. I don't kno wut too do wit her.**_

_**N: She'll come around eventually. Just keep working with her Kushina-sama.**_

K: _**I will tri.**_

The messages stopped there for a few moments. This made Naruto wonder what was wrong.

K: _**Narudo-kun…**_

N: _**Yes Kushina-sama?**_

K: _**Can u cal mi...Ookaa-san?**_

Now that made Naruto's eyes widen. He really didn't expect her to ask that of him. He thought about it for a moment, before replying.

N: _**Sure, but only here in our messages. If we ever see face to face again, you are going to be Kushina-sama. I don't think I can call you okaa-san to your face, no matter how much I want to. After seven years of calling you Kushina-sama to your face, I don't think I can revert all that easily back to calling you okaa-san.**_

K: _**Oh…Ill taek wat I can get, Narudo-kun. Thank U.**_

N: _**You're welcome okaa-san.**_

So off into the late afternoon the two of them spoke through the special paper to each other. Naruto explaining his reasons and theories about what had happened to Minato. It went well off into the night, and only had to stop when the cats had called Naruto for dinner. The blond promised his mom that he would respond to her messages if he can, for starting tomorrow he'd be on the move.

**(The next day)**

"Where are you heading Naruto?" Itachi asked. His partner had packed up many things into several scrolls and a bag. Naruto was double checking all his materials, nodding when he knew he had all the things he required to go.

"I'm heading east, towards Uzushiogakure," the blond explained. "I'm going there to see if I can learn more about sealing, or at least find anything that can help me understand more. So far I can do several seals: chakra suppression, gravity, storage, explosive and several variations of all of them. Sadly, I'm not sure what I can do with more complicated seals. Hell, I'm glad the code-breaker seal I developed worked."

"The one you used to free Kushina-sama's memories?"

"Yeah, that seal only had about a sixty percent chance of working out as of now."

"A sixty percent chance? What would have happened if it had failed?" Naruto stopped packing some of his scrolls and looked at Itachi with a serious face.

"If it didn't work...let's just say, Kushina-sama would need more than a few trips to the hospital to get fixed up." He then shook his head. "Man, that was one gamble I really didn't want to do just yet, but since I don't know when I'm going to be back in Konoha I had to risk it."

"I see." Itachi remained quiet until he asked his next question. "What will we do about my okaa-san and Sasuke?" The blond raised an eyebrow at the words.

"Why you're not going to stay here with them?"

"We are going to need funds if we want to survive. So I have to leave them alone for now."

"You can't leave them, they need you Itachi," Naruto frowned.

"But we will need money though," Itachi replied.

"We can't really separate them right now, just a few days after the whole massacre; you guys need each other right now." Naruto sighed. "I'll be back though. After I find something's out at Uzushiogakure and make sure it's habitable, I'll take them there and have them come with me. Of course, that means that you have to do as much as you can get with them." Itachi thought about it and then nodded.

"I'll give you two months to get there and back."

"Agreed." Naruto reached into his bag and pulled out one of the special script papers and handed it to Itachi. On it was the number two. "I'll keep in touch. Write if you need anything."

"Got it." Itachi and Naruto shook hands, before they gave each other a one armed brotherly hug. "See you around. Say goodbye to okaa-san as well. She'll worry about you, you know."

"I know." Hefting the bag over his shoulder, Naruto walked down the hallway towards the room Sasuke and Mikoto were sharing. He knocked on the door before calling out, "Mikoto-sama, it's Naruto, may I come in?"

"Go ahead," Mikoto's soft voice drifted in from the other side of the door. Opening the portal, Naruto looked inside and saw the woman sitting on the bed. She had bags under her eyes and she seemed to be lost in thought. Her hands were stroking Sasuke's hair as he slept on the bed. "How are you Naruto-kun?"

"I should be asking you that," Naruto retorted. "How are you and Sasuke holding up?"

"I'm...doing as well as I could be. I have seen death before, even those of my family." Her eyes then landed on Sasuke. "Sasuke, on the other hand, has not seen anything like that. He is still in a heavy shock from all that happened."

"I'm sorry about all of this happening to you. It's my fault this all happened. Minato-teme was targeting me, and your family was really close to me."

"It's not your fault Naruto-kun," Mikoto tried to reassure him. "The man we know as Minato is no longer himself: that crazed look in his eyes, the change in his movements, the sadistic smile. Almost everything about him has changed."

"I saw that too." Naruto sighed. "I have a hunch about what happened but I don't know what do about the whole situation." Shaking his head the blond decided to continue on with what he had to say. "That is not the reason I'm here right now."

"Oh and what would that be Naruto-kun?"

"I'm going to go away for a bit. Go to Uzushiogakure, see if I can find some things there that will help me learn new things."

"You're…leaving us?" Mikoto gasped. "But-"

"Don't worry, I'll be back soon Mikoto-sama. I'm going there first to see if there is at least one livable place there, then I will come back and see if you and Sasuke are willing to live there with me. Itachi will be going in and out of the village doing missions as a nuke-nin. I will be doing some of them too."

"Naruto, are you sure about this? I mean you've been helping out our family for a while now. It's...going to be weird seeing you leave."

"Don't worry Mikoto-sama," Naruto smiled at her. "I'll keep in touch. Itachi will show you how I'll do it." He then gave her a firm hug, one that she returned in earnest. She didn't want to lose anyone right now, especially after the whole business happening a few days ago, but she knew Naruto was stubborn and would do whatever he wanted. After releasing him, she gave him a sad smile.

"I'll miss you."

"Again, I'll keep in touch." The blond stood and walked towards the door.

"Keep safe." Mikoto called out.

"I will. I hope you feel better when I get back, you and Sasuke both." With that Naruto left the room and left the hideout a few moments later. He had a long journey ahead of him and his destination was the origins of the Uzumaki clan: Uzushiogakure.

**(Namikaze Household)**

Kushina was chopping vegetables for some dinner, a scowl messing up her beautiful face. Unlike the past few days, Minato had come home to sleep. Yuri was asleep, her sister had put a simple genjutsu on her as to give Kushina time to gather her thoughts on what to say to the girl. Tsubaki was in her room, playing with a few dolls she had awaiting dinner. Minato was sitting at the dinner table reading a newspaper, trying to keep up with the times.

Kushina sighed, covering the huff that she let out. She had promised Naruto that she wouldn't confront her husband. That made her mad and slightly put out, seeing as her own son underestimated her abilities. Sadly, she really wanted to know the circumstances behind whatever happened to her husband, especially since it had something to do with the Kyuubi and a messed up seal. Slowly, a smirk appeared on her face._'Although, I never promised I couldn't get any information out of him,'_she thought to herself.

"Honey?" Kushina called out.

"Yes Kushina?" Minato didn't put down the paper as he responded.

"I looked at Yuri and Tsubaki's seal today."

"And?"

"I can't seem to remember what seal was put on them. I try to remember and my memory gets fuzzy." She looked over her shoulder after putting the vegetables into the broth for the soup. Turning around she saw that Minato had a dark look on his face.

"Why were you looking at the seal Kushina?"

"I was just wondering how it worked. I mean I was unconscious during the whole thing, when Tsunade was healing me. So can you explain to me what seal you put on the girls." Minato closed his eyes and seemed to focus. Slowly he nodded.

"The seal I put on them is nameless at the moment and one that I created. It functions like this: the seal split the Kyuubi's chakra in half, into its yin and yang states. I had sealed the yin half into Tsubaki and the yang chakra into Yuri. This will have them specialize into genjutsu and taijutsu respectively. It also split the Kyuubi's conscience into two halves, although they are sealed away." Minato then opened his eyes and looked at his wife. "Over time the seals will unlock, allowing the girls to use the Kyuubi's chakra. Is that good enough of an explanation for you Kushina?" The red head nodded.

"Just one more question. I know most seals, complex seals such as that, usually need to have something to be given up in return for the sealing. Just like someone has to die to use the_Shiki Fuujin (Dead Demon Consuming Seal)._What did you have to give up for this seal?" Minato looked at her, and for a split second his eyes turned red.

"I don't know what I gave up. To be honest, I didn't feel any different after using the seal."

"I see." Kushina then turned around to cut up some meat for their soup. Minato nodded his head once again and went back to reading the newspaper. Suddenly a knife tore through the papers and land right between his legs, a few millimeters from his crotch. His eyes were wide and he saw Kushina looking rather embarrassed. Her hands were wet with the blood from the meat. "I'm so sorry honey, the knife slipped out of my hands."

"It…is okay." Minato frowned at his paper. "I think I'll go eat out tonight." The blond man stood up, kissed Kushina on the cheek and then left the house. Kushina brought her hand towards her cheek and rubbed hard. She felt contaminated after feeling his lips touch her cheek.

**(Naruto)**

Two days later, Naruto was at the border of_Hi no Kuni _when he decided to take a break. During the first few days he traveled, the blond decided that he had to change how he looked during his travels. So he dyed his hair black and used some make up to cover the whisker marks on his cheeks. He knew that if he had used a_Henge_, that some sensors would notice him using a minute amount of chakra. So now, Naruto had decided to take a stop at a relatively large town on the shoreline. He didn't catch the name of the place but he knew that it was a popular spot to go to for some people. There was a resort on the beach; several hot springs, a large shopping center and for those intellectually inclined a museum full of ancient artifacts. Now all of these places were fairly high class and guarded by samurai, so Naruto decided not to stay in any of the high class places. He decided to stay in a cheaper hotel, while hiding most of his stuff in his bag.

It would be another day of walking before he would reach the right port that headed of shore towards Uzushiogakure, so Naruto decided to walk around the city for a day of rest. After eating lunch at a small cafe Naruto decided to visit the museum. Making his way into the building, Naruto entered the building wary of the various ninjas and samurai walking around as well.

The various artifacts in the museum came from several places even from the major villages, some from Kirigakure, some from Kumogakure, and some from Konohagakure. That left Naruto wondering why the villages didn't come over and claim their artifacts, as well as steal the other artifacts. Shaking his head, Naruto was just surprised at the fact that no one would steal here. "I wonder why no one has tried to steal the stuff in here?" Naruto asked aloud.

"It's because the three major villages that contributed to this museum all agreed that they wouldn't steal the artifacts in the museum," a representative from the museum explained when he saw Naruto by himself.

"Really? I didn't know they did that."

"Most people don't. Also all the artifacts in here only have historical value, not so much relevance to the ninja arts. Although there were some people who tried to steal a few items several times, although the samurai and or visiting ninjas would stop them."

"I see, thank you." Naruto then turned around and continued to walk around the building. As he made his way through the building, he stopped in the weapons area. Most if not all the artifacts were hidden behind glass containers. Most of them were just regular katanas, spears and other weapons. Several people were walking around looking at the weapons alongside him. Every weapon in that room was a normal weapon, nothing out of the ordinary like the swords the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist had.

He stared at each of them only giving them a glance. Just as Naruto passed by all of them, a particular started to glow dimly. It was a curved sword that was about eighty-eight centimeters, nearly three feet, in length. There was no guard on it and was design oddly. The blade itself had markings on it, making it look like a feather, and the handle was short, making it a one handed blade. At the tip of the handle, there was a sharp point on it. At the bottom of the side of the blade was a small insignia, a swirl within a circle. Sadly Naruto didn't notice the glow nor paid the blade any mind. He also didn't hear the voice coming from the blade. "_UZUMAKI…" _the voice whispered into the wind.

**(Tsunade)**

It was night time and Tsunade was furious. She was on the way home from the small gambling trip, but she had already heard about the whole incident back at Konoha. When Tsunade found out about this, she broke down the walls at the casino they were currently at. She was stomping her way back home, going to demand from Minato what the hell was going on. The busty blond was grumbling to herself all the way back and Shizune was scared for her. She was hugging Tonton to herself the entire way.

'_Naruto-kun, why did you do this sort of thing?'_Shizune thought to herself. She had nearly broken down when she heard of the circumstances back home. She didn't believe that Naruto would have changed and gone nuke-nin, at least not without reason. That was what made her stop herself from crying that night she found out about massacre, the belief that Naruto had a perfectly good reason for all of these things happening.

"Kami, what was that brat thinking?" Tsunade growled as they walked. "I won't believe he went rogue, no matter what the freaking Hokage said!"

"I agree, but being angry won't help him out Tsunade-sama," Shizune told her.

"I know, but I can't help it. Something is wrong and I need to find out what." The blond woman then frowned. "Chances are Jiraiya already knows what is happening."

"Tsunade-sama!" a voice called out. Shizune and Tsunade turned around to see Teuchi and Ayame walking up to them. Teuchi had a frown on his face, while Ayame had her head down. "Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san heading back home?"

"Yes Teuchi-san," Shizune nodded. "You two should have waited to travel in the morning though. It's not safe to be traveling at night."

"Well, Ayame wanted to hurry back home for answers." Shizune looked at the younger girl, who looked completely devastated.

"I guess you heard about what happened too then Teuchi-san?" The old man nodded, and they could hear Ayame starting to sniff.

"I can't believe either of those two boys would do anything like that," Teuchi replied. "Those two are good boys, great boys. They love Konoha. They would never betray the village."

"But the news…" Ayame muttered. "Itachi said he felt something bad was going to happen, that's why he sent us away. Did he know something like this was going to happen? That he and Naruto would be forced out of the village?"

"I don't know Ayame-san," Shizune sighed. Tsunade had her brows furrowed, thinking about what could have happened back home.

"There must be a reason, and the boys must have had an inkling about what would have had happened. The question is why did all of this happen?" Tsunade theorized. "There is always a reason for something like this happening. Usually underhanded tactics and bad politics. So what had occurred?"

"That I can explain a little bit," a voice stated. Looking up, the group saw Jiraiya standing on a tree branch. "Yo!"

"Pervert, what are you doing here?" Tsunade frowned.

"Heading back home as well. I was near Suna when I heard what happened. I turned around and ran all the way back

here. I'm surprised I saw you taking this route though." Jiraiya jumped down and nodded to the group. "But as I was saying, I know a little about why this is happening."

"Well are you going to tell us?" Tsunade growled.

"I will hime, just wait." He then turned to the two civilians. "Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan, I need you two to promise me that whatever is spoken between us remains between us. Got it?"

"Of course, since it's about the safety Naruto and Itachi. We won't say a word," Teuchi stated. Jiraiya nodded and then headed away from Konoha.

"Um…Jiraiya-sama? Where are we going?" Ayame asked.

"We're going to speak about this in a more secure location," Jiraiya told them. "Speaking about important things like this requires us to be in private."

**(Naruto's location)**

Naruto was asleep in his hotel room, and early the next morning he would leave and head off to the port closest to Uzushiogakure. So he had a light dinner after walking around to rest and here he was now asleep in bed.

_**BOOM!**_

The blond's eyes snapped open and looked around. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes he looked around and saw the clock. He had only fallen asleep at ten and it was only one now. "Only three hours of sleep," he frowned. He then put on a shirt and his sandals. Throwing the door open he saw a fire at the museum. There was black smoke billowing high up into the air. He saw several ninjas heading towards the area, along with samurai. "Hey you!" Naruto shouted to a passing ninja. The forehead protector she had showed she was from the Hot springs Village that was to the north of where they were. "What is going on here?"

"Someone tried to steal something from the museum and then something exploded," the woman replied. "You should stay there kid." The woman then ran towards the fire. Naruto had to slap his forehead when she called him kid. Sometimes he forgot that he was still only thirteen years old. Putting on a jacket, Naruto left his room after locking it. He headed towards the museum. The blond knew that he shouldn't investigate, that it may cause hunter-nin to see him. Sadly, he just couldn't do that, he would protect other people if he could.

As he arrived he was surprised at the scene. Several ninjas were on the floor bleeding, deep slices and cuts were on their bodies. The other ninjas were tending to the injured while others were rushing into the building. He heard shouts and screams coming from inside. Several bodies were thrown out of the hole. "Those below jounin level retreat, take the injured with you!" a ninja commanded. "Jounin and above, create a line to ensure the person will not escape this area." Several younger ninja grabbed the injured and hauled them away. Naruto walked forward slowly approaching the opening in the wall. "Hey kid get back."

"Don't worry, I'm good," Naruto replied. He stalked forward. Suddenly he felt a pair of hands land on his shoulder.

"I said get back kid," the ninja commanded again.

"And I said I'm-" His eyes widened as he felt something coming towards them. He pushed the ninja holding him back. That was a good thing too because just as he did that, a person landed in between them and the feather like blade slammed into the ground. Naruto had to draw a kunai to block the following attack. He stared at the person who was holding the blade. It was an old man, but that was not what caught Naruto's attention. It was the old man's eyes. They were blank and devoid of emotions.

"Uzumaki…" the old man whispered. "UZUMAKI!" The old man went on the assault again, and with surprising speed for an old man, managed to close the distance between both of them in an instant. Naruto blocked the blade with his kunai and did a palm thrust to the man's chest. The old man was shot backwards, but before he could be pushed far away he managed to nick Naruto's cheek drawing some blood.

"I'm surprised he managed to get me," Naruto whispered as he grabbed his cheek. He then looked at the old man who started laughing.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" the old man laughed maniacally. The blade started to glow even a brighter white and left the man's hand. The old man fell to the floor and was caught by one of the remaining ninjas. The blade on the other hand kept floating and was glowing brighter by the second.

"The hell?" a ninja stated from close by. All the ninjas present could feel the large collection of chakra in the blade. It started to react to Naruto's blood on it. Naruto could see seals being undone on it. The large amount chakra burst out from the floating blade.

"Everyone back!" Naruto shouted as the energy enveloped the area. A large column of chakra lit up the night air. When it died down, everyone looked towards the sword. They were shocked to see the blade in somebody else's hand. The person holding it was man, roughly standing at one hundred eighty centimeters. He was wearing a black button up polo shirt. He had white ninja pants with black dress shoes on his feet. Over his entire body was a white leather duster. He had slicked back red hair, very reminiscent of Kushina's. Slowly opening his eyes, it revealed steel grey orbs that had a hint of excitement in them. Turning his head the man stopped and looked at Naruto.

"You," he pointed at Naruto, "you are the one with Uzumaki blood aren't you?"

"And what if I am?" Naruto responded. The man laughed and tapped the dull side of the blade against his right shoulder.

"Funny, you don't have the trademark red hair. Although your hair is dyed for some reason, I can smell the chemicals. But who would have thought that an Uzumaki would get close to the Quill Blade…" the man muttered. He then smirked at Naruto. "Tell me boy, how long has it been since the era of the foundation of the major villages?"

"Why? Should I answer to you?"

"Good answer, but I need to know so." The blade then shrunk to a size that of a feather from a bird. Chakra started to gather around the tip of the blade. In the air, the man wrote the character for truth in the air. What surprised Naruto was that the character was written in chakra. The man then tapped the character with the blade part of the sword. The character then turned into an arrow and he shot it at a random ninja. The ninja went rigid and his eyes went wide. "You, tell me how many years has it been since the founding of the major villages."

"A-A-A-About a hundred years or so," the ninja muttered.

"Thank you." The man then snapped his fingers and the person fainted. Several ninjas moved back a step.

"What did you do to that man?" Naruto demanded.

"Put a truth seal on them and then knocked them out with the same seal." The man shrugged as the blade returned to its original length.

"So that thing you wrote in the air, was a seal?"

"You bet. Now, Uzumaki boy," the man cracked his neck. "Make this interesting." In the blink of an eye, the man was already in Naruto's personal space the blade under Naruto's neck. The boy's eyes widened as he felt the blade on his neck.

"_I didn't even see him move. How did even he get past Harukaze Miyabi? It is like he's not even here,"_Naruto thought to himself as he gulped. Naruto then turned on_Raiton no Yoroi _and tried doing a back hand, only to miss as the man moved out the way. Naruto ran after the man but somehow, the man was able to keep with Naruto and keep dodging the boy's attacks with ease._"He's fast too."_Naruto then felt something slash his chest and saw a cross on it, and blood dribbling from the cut. He looked at the man who had a smirk on his face and there was blood on his blade._"He can even cut through Raiton no Yoroi_."

"Just who are you?" Naruto demanded.

"Isn't it polite to say your name first?" the man shot back.

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto introduced himself with a glare. The man laughed at the face Naruto made.

"You have the same glare my teammate had." The man then pointed to himself. "My name is Naoto Uzumaki, the Mad Doctor of Uzu. Actually, make that the spirit of the Mad Doctor." He then pointed his blade at Naruto. "Now, make this fight interesting.

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes:<strong> Tell me what I did wrong, or did right. Leave a review.


	18. The Mad Doctor

**Author's Notes: **Thanks for everything again. I probably replied to all the reviews I've needed to respond to. Sorry for the late chapter, I'm trying to do one a week. Last week, my brain was too caught up with another idea and I wrote that one out first so it would get out of my mind. So here is the new chapter. Enjoy the chapter. THIS chapter was beta-ed by **Naginator**. So thank him too.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>"Did you say spirit? As in ghosts?" Naruto stuttered as he stared at the man in front of him.<p>

"You could stay that," Naoto replied. "Why?"

"Oh kami…" Naruto whispered. "You are not real! Ghosts aren't real!" After that the blond let out ragged breaths as he stared at the man. Before anyone could blink Naruto slapped himself across the face. Naoto looked on in amusement.

"Well, what was that about?" Naoto asked.

"Sorry, had a fear of ghosts as a kid. Seeing one in front of me now kind of brought it back." Naruto then cracked his knuckles. "Question though, if you are a ghost, how come I can feel you."

"Beat me and maybe I'll tell you." Cracking his neck, Naruto bit his thumb and swiped it over a bandage on his wrist. Out popped his katana. Turning on his _Raiton no Yoroi_, the two men disappeared in a blur of speed. The ninjas around the two could barely see the blurs that the two fighters were as they tried to follow the battle with their eyes.

As the two moved around at speeds above those of normal humans, above normal shinobi, the blades clashed creating sparks with each hit. Naruto ducked a slice coming towards his head, and managed to block the following stab aimed at his gut. He then lashed out with a punch, which was evaded when the ghost just did a slight tilt to the side. Blue eyes widened when he saw a glowing green hand coming up towards him. He had to roll backwards in order to evade that one, but the hand managed to hit his shirt causing it to get cut. This caused the boy to frown. The two stopped in their fighting as Naruto studied the cut. "Chakra Scalpel, should have known you'd know that. You said you were a doctor after all." Naoto just smirked at him before shaking his head.

The red haired man then disappeared again, but this time Naruto was able to follow him. He had to reinforce _Harukaze Miyabi _to just feel even the slightest disturbances in the air around him. That was why he shoved an electrically charged elbow to the left, managing to hit the man for the first time. The attack, however, did barely anything to the man. All he did was right himself after hitting the ground once and smiled. "Okay, that hurt," Naoto stated. In a second the blade turned back into the size of a quill and the ghost began to write in the air once again.

"Crap! I won't let you write down a seal!" Naruto blasted forward intent on stopping the man, however his eyes were trained on the seal, trying to figure out what the man was going to write. It was rather sloppy as he wrote it but Naruto saw the kanji for 'explosion' appear in midair. Following that was the number three. Even though Naruto was able to cross the gap between them within less than a second, the man wrote fast. The characters looked messy when he started writing them midair, but Naruto guessed that the Quill Blade fixes mistakes like that easily. So when Naruto arrived in front of the doctor, the characters transformed into three glowing disks and fell to the ground. The doctor then moved away from the area just as Naruto stepped on one disk. "Shit!"

The ground where Naruto was exploded, covering the area in smoke and debris. "Oh, come now Uzumaki boy, that wouldn't have killed you. That armor of yours would have protected you, or have gotten you out of the area." Naoto stared at the smoke for a couple of seconds, wondering where the blond was. The red head then felt a rumbling from underneath the ground and found several chains encasing him. "Ho?" Naruto then walked out of the smoke looking no worse than he had since beginning the match. The only things that seemed to have taken damage were his clothes. "Hmm...this is interesting, seems like you've got Eiji's ability to make chains."

"That's not all I can do." Naruto charged the fist holding the chains with lightning. Naoto let out a slight grunt as the lightning coursed through him before laughing.

"Not bad boy, not bad. However," chakra gathered around Naoto and the chains broke, "I knew one of the first users of that technique. It won't stop me boy." Suddenly more words appeared behind the man. The word for 'gravity' appeared above him, as well as the number three. The characters turned into a small sphere and shot out a dome around them. Naruto was forced onto his knee, the gravity in the area tripling.

"The hell! I didn't even see you write that!" Naruto demanded. He raised up his arm encased with both raiton and fuuton chakra to block the incoming attack. Using the fuuton chakra to sharpen the lightning on his blade, he raised it up to block the incoming blade. Thanks to the boost with _Raiton no Yoroi _he was able move himself due to the increased weight. At the same moment he stabbed with his left arm. That was a bad decision on his part, for when he did Naoto brought down his hand with the chakra scalpel onto Naruto's left shoulder. Even though there was no visible sign of a cut Naruto felt his shoulder being lacerated. Not only that, the katana he had was broken in two. Naruto kicked Naoto's feet from under him and then jumped back. He tried raising his left arm but only felt pain instead. "Damn."

"I severed the muscles in your shoulder. You won't be able to use that left arm of yours now. That and the fact that I destroyed your blade, how will you fight me now."

"I still have my right arm, I can still fight." Naruto then brought up his right hand and created a sphere of slow moving electricity. "Since it's harder to move due to your seal in the sky, I think I should add my own technique shouldn't I? I had to learn this move without hand signs but! It worked out in the end." The sphere was then thrown up into the air as Naruto shouted. "_Ranton: Hoshi Hanabi (Storm Release: Star Fireworks)!" _The orb stayed aloft for a few moments before it started shooting down rays of lightning onto the field. Naoto had to move out the way of several attacks, as the orb shoot out beams randomly. As the ghost looked at his opponent, he saw Naruto having to dance away from the move as well.

"You have no control over this attack?" he asked as he rolled away from one of the beams.

"The moment it leaves my hand I can't control this attack." Naruto swerved around one of the beams that were about to hit him. Naoto rolled his eyes and using his speed tried to close in on Naruto. The boy only smiled when he saw that. Slowly moving to the side he lashed out with his good hand at a beam coming towards him and it bounced away, hitting another beam and then another. The ricocheting motion led to the final attack hitting Naoto mid step. Naoto was shot backwards from the attack, causing him to glare at the younger Uzumaki.

"I thought you couldn't control it when it left your hands?" The response he got was a shrug of the shoulders. Naoto then minimized the blade again and wrote the character for 'smoke.' From the blade smoke was emitted, covering the area and rendering most sight useless. Naruto's _Harukaze Miyabi _still allowed him to feel where most of the people were and where the random attacks from his own jutsu were going to fall. That was why he ducked and kicked backwards hitting a beam, which smacked into Naoto. After that though, Naruto felt a slash on his back but felt no blood.

'_Another damn slice from his chakra scalpel. Damn he recovers fast,'_he thought to himself._'His speed is increasing too. Plus the fact that the gravity is harsher is putting a toll on me. I need to end this now.'_Looking around, Naruto found something that gave him an idea. He rushed towards a part of the smoke covered, lightning rained battlefield and slid to a spot. Just as he finished sliding, Naoto fell on top of him with his blade penetrating his gut. "GAH!" Naruto coughed up blood._'How the hell does he keep cutting through theRaiton no Yoroi? I haven't seen anyone be able to do that yet? No matter, he's right where I want him.'_Looking above him Naruto saw Naoto, straddling him with his right hand poised to strike leaving the blade in his gut.

"Surprisingly, for a boy who was thrust into battle against an opponent you had no information about, you did surprisingly well," Naoto complimented him. Naruto watched as the wounds healed on the ghost's physical form and Naoto noticed it too. "I know you're wondering why I'm healing, but since you're going to die right here and now, I won't tell you. Good bye Naruto Uzumaki boy."

Naruto knew this was his moment. Just when Naoto was about to strike, several chains burst forth from his body and snared Naoto, halting his movements. "_Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku!" _Naruto inhaled and exhaled a sphere of concentrated chakra catching Naoto in between the eyes. Then he raised his right hand, stabbed the man in the temple. Naoto wondered what hit him and when Naruto's hand fell he got his answer. The broken piece of his katana was in his hands. Naoto looked baffled until he started to laugh.

"HAHAHAHAH! That was a good show boy, you sure made this interesting." All of a sudden the gravity returned to normal, the smoke disappeared and Naoto seemed to vanish. This left Naruto lying down on the ground in pain, with the Quill Blade still stabbed into his gut. Slowly he lost consciousness and heard the rest of the shinobi who were watching coming closer.

'_Why didn't they do anything to help me?'_he thought to himself._'Oh that's right, I'm wanted. They probably want my head.' _Naruto then lost consciousness.

As he did, several ninjas, were getting closer to him. "Contain the boy, I want to bring him to Konoha and retrieve our reward. If the price of his head alive wasn't so high, I'd say we kill him right now," a ninja from Konoha told them. When they approached, the Quill Blade suddenly lifted itself from Naruto's body. This forced the people to stop walking. Naoto reappeared fully healed and a scowl on his face. The spirit leered at all the people before picking up Naruto and hefting him over his shoulder. "Put him down!"

"I don't think so. This boy, I need him for something. So, he and I will be taking our leave," Naoto responded. He lifted up the Quill Blade and wrote down the character for 'gravity' again and then wrote the number five write after that. Once again, it flew up into the air and created a small invisible dome around them. Everyone fell to the ground, not even being able to lift themselves up due to the gravity being increased five times normal. Naoto turned and took his leave carrying the unconscious Naruto with him. It would be another few minutes before the gravity seal would wear off on the area, but by then the two would be long gone.

(**Time Skip)**

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself within a forest. It was light out already and he felt a bit woozy. He tried to sit up from the ground. He only winced in pain as he grabbed his side. "What the?" he asked himself. Looking down he saw that he was bandaged around the waist and his left shoulder.

"You shouldn't move around too much, you'll reopen your wound," a voice to the side told him. Naruto's head snapped to the direction of the voice and saw Naoto looking at the stars. That was when everything came rushing back to him. The memories of the fight and how Naruto barely won. "Time really has flown huh? It's really been that long since my death." The red headed spirit then turned towards Naruto. "Your stuff is behind the tree next to you. I picked up it up on our escape from that village."

"What?" Naruto shook his head, and then looked at Naoto again. Now that he looked at him, he noticed that the man was more transparent compared to the events that unfolded the night before.

"We had to escape the village. Apparently, you're a nuke-nin. Never knew that a traitorous Uzumaki before. We're usually loyal to the people we work with." Naoto then stood up and walked over to Naruto. "I couldn't fully heal you. I used up too much chakra last night so I did what I could." Naruto remained silent trying to comprehend what in the world was happening. Then he looked at Naoto with narrowed eyes.

"Why aren't you trying to kill me right now?"

"Why should I? Yesterday, I just need to stretch my legs." Naoto replied. "Besides, if I were still alive you would have beaten me more easily. Being a spirit let me take a beating from you though."

"Okay, I am still so confused. Can you explain to me what is going on? What is up with you and the whole 'spirit' thing? To be perfectly honest, I'm still creeped out about you being transparent. Give me something to work with, like you said I'm new to this whole thing."

"I guess I can give you that. Let me start with who I am. I am Naoto Uzumaki, the Mad Doctor of Uzu."

"Why did they call you that?" Naruto asked. The man the smiled.

"It was because most of the medical practices I thought up of were rather, out there. I did not dabble in human experimentation. That is just not my style. I just had a tendency to do things most people would never think of. Like putting seals on a man's leg to keep it together long enough so I can actually do surgery on it. Or doing something like giving a certain poison to counter act another one. Things like that, were what considered me mad. My ideas at the time were too uncommon for people." Naoto then smirked. "That and the fact that I keep threatening to gut people's stomach out with a rust scalpel tends to scare away a lot of people."

"I see." Naruto nodded. Back then thoughts like that were what got people in trouble, or just out right ignored. Just like the story of Tsunade suggesting a four man team with a medic in it was rejected, something that only a fool would have thought of. Naruto then turned to Naoto again. "So tell me, why is your spirit in the Quill Blade? Not only that, but what are you really?" Naoto sat down on a stone across from Naruto. How he did that had Naruto wondering.

"What I am is simple really. I am a mass of chakra that can take a physical from, similar to that of the bijuus. My thoughts, personality and memories have been stored into the Quill Blade. In all essence I am here as a spirit, but I can't use too much chakra or else I'd be sealed away again for a long time." He then smirked at Naruto. "If I were still alive, you would have killed me faster than that of last night. Your attacks really hurt. The fact that I was only a physical form of chakra was what saved me of losing the fight to you so early on."

"What? You put up such a good fight though."

"I'm a doctor. Sure I may be a ninja and a field doctor as well, but I cannot fight against heavy hitters like you for a long time. The only reason I had put up such a fight was because I couldn't really felt the pain." Naruto thought about it then slowly nodded his head.

"I guess." Naruto then sighed. "Well, thanks for the info and all but why are you still here?"

"You can say that I can't pass on until I leave my knowledge with a disciple." When Naruto raised his brow at that Naoto shook his head. "All in all, my spirit can't go to rest until the fact that I pass on my jutsus and knowledge to a person. So until then, my spirit/chakra whatever you may call it is stuck to the Quill Blade."

"So what am I going to be your disciple?" Naruto asked.

"Nope."

"What?"

"You already chose a path from what I've seen, you're already following another path." Naoto then looked at Naruto. "Now it's time for you to answer a question from me."

"Which is?"

"What has happened to Uzushiogakure?" Naoto asked.

"What do you mean by that?" Naruto asked.

"I'm sure you're a nuke-nin from Konoha. Meaning that something must have happened to Uzu if you were working with them. The only previous person I saw from Uzu who went to Konoha was Mito-sama. Most, if not all, Uzumaki's would have stayed in Uzu where it is,_was_, safe. So tell me what has happened." Naruto thought about it before sighing.

"A couple decades ago, two if I'm right, Uzushiogakure was destroyed. It was mix of natural disasters and a joint effort of Iwagakure and Mizugakure that destroyed the village. When they were recuperating during the Second Ninja War they struck, thus destroying the village and scattering its people all over the Elemental Nations."

"I see." Naoto nodded. "How many of them are in Konoha, seeing as we had the strongest ties with that village."

"When I left, three were the only ones there. My _ex-family _are the only Uzumaki's left there. Although, they have taken up the name of Namikaze." Naruto ran his hand through his hair taking off the black dye and revealing his blond hair. "I look just like my father to be honest."

"You really don't have the trademark red hair." Naoto noted. That caused the blond to roll his eyes. "So what are you doing out here?"

"I'm heading to Uzu to see if there are still some scrolls, books, tomes or whatever about fuuinjutsu is left."

"Why so? Did your family not teach you about sealing?"

"Oh they did, but I need to know more. I am nowhere near the fuuinjutsu master my opponent is, so I need to learn more."

"I see." Naoto nodded his head. "I'll help you."

"Really?"

"You may not be my pupil but I will lend you my help. That and I'm stuck with you since the Quill Blade is now yours." Naoto nodded to himself. "If Uzushiogakure was destroyed, then I am sure that those who attacked had missed one place in the village."

"What are you talking about?"

"My team and I had sealed off a place in Uzushiogakure before our deaths in the First Ninja World War. It is full of the knowledge of Uzu. My team and I called it the Vault." That made Naruto frown.

"Wouldn't that have been the first place to be looted of all their things?"

"Not exactly. The people of the village can deposit information into the Vault easily." Naoto opened his mouth to explain before closing it. "Actually, I don't think I'll explain the procedure on how to do that, it is much better to see it. But going back to the point, the reason why no one can enter the Vault is because you need two keys to open it." Raising up a finger Naoto explained, "The first key is the Quill Blade within your hand." Raising up another finger Naoto continued. "The second key belonged to a teammate of mine. His name was Kouga Uzumaki. You're going need to find his duster."

"Really?" Naruto raised an eyebrow. "I need to find a century old duster or so?"

"Trust me, you will need it if you want to get into the Vault."

"Fine," Naruto sighed. "Do you know which way it is?" Naoto closed his eyes and sent out a large pulse of chakra. The blond noticed that it caused Naoto to become even more transparent. He waited a couple of seconds before he felt another pulse of chakra come back towards them. The red haired spirit opened his eyes before speaking.

"It's all the way in Iwa." This caused the blond to let out a groan.

"Damn, that means I have to trek back through Hi no Kuni." After saying that Naruto let out a yawn.

"Take a rest boy. I'll watch and inform you of anything going on. You're still pretty injured after all." The blond nodded and closed his eyes to go to sleep, leaving Naoto time to think. When he was sure the boy was asleep Naoto smirked._'He doesn't need to know that I took it too easy on him as well. If I decided to fight seriously, I would have used all the poisons I knew of, aimed for his eyes and use all my knowledge on the anatomy of a human body. I would have taken the opportunity during the fight when I got through his armor and decapitated him. Again, he doesn't need to know about that.'_The spirit then looked at Naruto again._'Sadly, Kouga won't go easy when he arrives to claim the duster. That man never knew how to hold back after all and with him just being a chakra construct like myself that battle is going to be hard on boy.'_

(**In Kumo)**

A sat in his chair, his face impassive as he looked at the news he had received, or rather the bingo book on his desk. The page was turned to the the S-Class section. So far only three names were on there that were from Konoha: Orochimaru of the Sannin, and the two added yesterday Itachi Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. Looking up from his desk he looked at the team standing in front of him. It was Darui, C and Yugito. All of them had grown over the years, although they looked rather similar to the way they were back then. Darui had a sleeveless black shirt and shorts on. His blond hair had grown out and the fringe of his bangs covered one eye. C had similar clothing except had some white armor on the front. He had his headband on his head and black fingerless gloves on. Yugito had done her hail in a long ponytail that reached her waist. She wore a black and purple shirt with a matching pair of bicycle shorts. Over the past few years her brown hair had turned blond.

"You called us Raikage-sama?" C asked amicably. He was happy to be called in. He was now a chunin and was willing to do whatever it took to keep going up in the ranks.

"Probably for another dull mission," Darui sighed. Just like his friend he too had become a chunin, but unlike his friend his promotion test for becoming jounin was within the next few weeks. Despite his rather unenthusiastic attitude on the outside, Darui was rather excited about the prospect of becoming a jounin on the inside.

"Both of you please be quiet, Raikage-sama is going to speak," Yugito reprimanded her two juniors. While their jounin sensei wasn't around, Darui was usually in charge, but the moment he and C start talking about some matters Yugito had to step in and calm them down. She then turned to the leader of the village. "What is it that you want us to do Raikage-sama?"

"I would was originally just going to ask some of the ANBU to do this mission," A started to speak as he looked at the trio of teens, "use their force to seek these two out, but I had a change of heart." He turned the bingo book towards the team of young ninja and their eyes went wide. C let out a whistle when he saw the picture of both Naruto and Itachi.

"You have got to be kidding me right?" C asked. "Those two went nuke-nin? That's a rather incredible to happen."

"I agree," Darui frowned. "I would have never expected to see this happen. I mean those two seemed to be so loyal to Konoha. There must have been a reason for this." Darui then looked at the information on the two and raised an eyebrow. "S-Class, kill on sight, the price on their heads is in the hundred millions."

"It seems Konoha has spared nothing to want people to go against them," Yugito muttered. "Although, I'm not sure that anyone could really beat them. If the stories are true, those two were some of the strongest in the Konoha ANBU in years, ever since Kakashi Hatake."

"Exactly, that is why I am sending you three out to get them," A stated confidently. That caused the trio to look at him. The looks of confusion on their faces were rather priceless, and if A had a camera he would have taken a picture. "I want you to go to those two and ask them to join Kumo."

"Sir, we are only three chunin, yet you expect us to convince us to somehow fight them and convince them to join us. How would we able to do that?" Yugito asked.

"You are not going to fight them, you'd probably die against just one of them. Against both of them you'd probably be turned into dust within a few seconds. No, you two are going to just talk to them if about joining us. If they say no, just flee." A looked at them with a firm stare. "I do not want you three to do anything stupid if they want to have a fight. If they are S-Class I highly doubt that they don't have the power to back it up." Clearing his throat A spoke again, "So this is going to be your first S-Ranked mission: find and persuade Naruto Uzumaki and Itachi Uchiha to join Kumo. If not just leave them be and run away if they want a fight. Am I clear?"

"Hai Raikage-sama!" the trio shouted.

"Good, then you are dismissed." The group nodded and left the office. A sat there quietly for a moment before grunting towards the window. "B how long are you going to stay out there and listen into my conversation?" From outside of the window Killer B showed up and smiled at his brother.

"Yo, bro," he greeted. "Do you think that idea is great? Sending dem kids after those two, is like putting their heads on a silver plate yo."

"I know what I'm doing. Those two kids won't be willing to hurt others that aren't after their heads." After a minute A added. "Hopefully."

"I hope your right, because even with Yugito there that Naruto kid will put up a big fight." B nodded to himself. He then took out a note pad and a pen, starting to write lyrics in it.

A shook his head at his brother's odd antics, but he smiled all the same. If things go right, he'll have not one but two new members for Kumo. If worse comes to worse, he may end up with three dead ninjas. His other plan will also start now too. He may have to send a few people to Konoha to… 'negotiate' a few new terms, seeing as the person who he usually talks to is gone.

(**With Itachi)**

Itachi was cooking dinner along with the cats in the hideout for his family. The teen sighed. It had been about a week since Naruto left, and there has been no word from him in the past three days. Now Itachi wasn't worried for Naruto, he knew his partner could handle himself. He was just worried that he lost the piece of paper needed to communicate. Just as he was about to keep on thinking of how an irresponsible person Naruto can be he heard a noise coming from his pocket. The whistling sound the paper makes when it wants to make contact with other people. Drying his hands Itachi took it out and saw the characters for translate, fix, and sort appear on the paper. The paper lit up before calming down. Suddenly words appeared on it and Itachi was surprised to see that the words were clear.

_**N: Yo Itachi. Did the fix on the paper work out? Are the words written out better?**_

_**I: Yes, I'm surprised you were able to fix the paper's grammar. How were you able to fix this thing?**_

_**N: I uh…had help…**_

That made Itachi frown.

_**I: Why do I not like the sound of that?**_

_**N: You can say that I got into an incident recently…news about it will probably reach you soon.**_

_**I: Why do I feel afraid to hear about it?**_

_**N: Don't worry about it. I have um…made an ally of sorts. He's the one who fixed the paper.**_

Itachi frowned again. This doesn't feel right at all.

_**I: How can we trust him?**_

_**N: He's sort of stuck with me…for a long time.**_

That made the Uchiha heir sigh. He really couldn't do much about it, so he'll have to trust Naruto's choice on this thing.

_**I: Okay then, I'll let you settle that. How close are you to Uzushiogakure?**_

_**N: About that, I had gained some information about the place. There is a place in Uzushio that wasn't destroyed, problem is I need two keys for it. So far I only have one.**_

_**I: And the other one?**_

_**N: It currently resides in Iwagakure. I need to go there and get it.**_

_**I: What will you do after that?**_

_**N: I'll stop by there and pick up both Mikoto-sama and Sasuke, then we'll all head to Uzushiogakure.**_

Itachi thought about it. That sounded like a good plan. All he had to do was wait for Naruto. He then slowly nodded his head after thinking about it.

_**I: Fine. Hurry up please. I need to head out myself. I need to train and start setting up the spy networks that we wanted to establish.**_

_**N: Great. I'll get in touch again soon. Next time let me talk to Mikoto-sama as well. I think she's going to worry about me too much if I don't. This will take me about a week to do, if no problems occur.**_

_**I: Fine, see you soon partner.**_

Itachi's paper had the ink disappear. He stood up and grabbed the plate of food that the cats had set up. "Thank you." Itachi then walked towards the room where Sasuke and Mikoto were staying. Opening the door he saw Mikoto reading a story to Sasuke, to keep him calmed down. With the memories still fresh in the young boy's mind, Itachi was a tiny bit happy that Sasuke didn't shut himself off. "Okaa-san," Itachi greeted. Both Mikoto and Sasuke looked up. Itachi gave them their food.

"Thank you Itachi," Mikoto smiled. Sasuke had a forced one on his face, but he was grateful for the food. He was hungry after all.

"Naruto had gotten in contact with me. He' said he'll be here to pick you up in a week, and then head to Uzu."

"Oh. Why will it take a week?"

"He needs to head off to Iwa first. Apparently he needs something from there to get to the place in Uzu you will stay in."

"I see."

"He also wants to talk to you the next time he makes contact." Mikoto smiled softly at him.

"Okay."

(**Hyuuga Compound)**

Hizashi Hyuuga, the twin brother of the current head of the main house's leader Hiashi Hyuuga, was sitting in a small room. He was a man who was currently the one in charge of the branch family. He had long brown hair that framed his face and a well-built body. He had milky white eyes that seemingly had no pupils. He was not blind, far from it actually. He had one of the three great doujutsu's in the elemental nations: the Byakugan. When a user puts chakra into their eyes, the Byakugan would allow the user to see in 360 degrees up to a certain distance. It varies per person. It also allowed a person to see the tenketsus' of a person. Around his forehead was a white wrapping, that concealed the cage bird seal that was placed on each branch member.

Currently the man was staring at a piece of paper in front of him. On the paper were just a few words that had shocked him

_**N: Hello Hizashi-sama. It is I, Naruto Uzumaki, we need to talk.**_

Now the moment he heard a piece of paper making a slight whistling noise he became suspicious. When words started to appear, he became wary. When that one sentence showed itself to him, he became intrigued. Taking a pen he decided on what to write.

_**H: If you really are Naruto Uzumaki, tell me what did you promise me a year ago on the third of July last year?**_

Hizashi waited for the answer. If the person contacting him was really who he claimed to be, they should know what they spoke about on that specific day. When the response came back, Hizashi couldn't help but smile.

_**N: I promised you that I would give your son Neji a few lessons on channeling elemental chakra for his next birthday on the same day. He kept asking me about that when I saw him that day.**_

That statement was all he needed to know hear/read. The only person who knew about that promise to help teach his son Neji how to manipulate elemental chakra and start doing things outside of the clan arts was Naruto. Slowly Hizashi made sure that the room was sealed off, and took precaution to make sure that even people with the Byakugan by activating a small seal that made the entire room into something similar to a chakra flare. It was subtle, but anyone with a Byakugan would get blinded for a few short seconds. It was something that Minato had made for the entire Hyuuga clan. It was an anti-spying seal. Hizashi decided to answer.

_**H: Naruto-san, can you tell me what had happened. I'm lost about everything?**_

_**N: Do you have time?**_

_**H: I can miss one training session.**_

_**N: This is going to be a long story.**_

So Naruto told Hizashi all he had been through up to the point of his escape, as well as his theories about what is happening to the Hokage. Hizashi took it all in, carefully listening to the younger man. He can see the truth in what he said to him. The Hokage going crazy, the framing of himself and Itachi, and all the bad things that have been happening to his own family.

_**N: Hizashi-sama, I have a request for you.**_

_**H: What is it that you need Naruto-san?**_

_**N: I need some eyes and ears in Konoha. I need info being transferred to me.**_

_**H: What are you asking me to do?**_

_**N: Just tell me what is going on there. The current events of Konoha. I need to know if anything goes wrong, so I can react accordingly. I also need you to watch over Kushina-sama and the girls.**_

Hizashi thought about it for a moment, but he already knew his answer.

_**H: Of course. I'll help you out Naruto, you're my friend after all.**_

_**N: Thank you. Don't worry though. You'll have some help for this, although I still need to ask Tsume-san and Tsunade-san.**_

Hizashi raised an eyebrow when Naruto didn't respond for a few moments. He then laughed when he saw the next set of words.

_**N: Sorry about that, I just remembered that I haven't told Obaa-chan and Ero-sensei. Kami-sama they are going to kill me if I don't talk to them soon. I'll speak to you within the next week and get a weekly report. I need to talk to another helper next. Thank you again Hizashi-sama. Oh and a fair warning, chances are since I'm not there Kumo will try to do something. I was one of the few reasons why they were so amicable with us and the reason Konoha and Kumo were at peace. I was the one the who had to make A agree to the whole thing. Hokage-sama won't be able to react to A's plans fast enough, or he won't listen to me.**_

The paper then stopped reacting and Hizashi shook his head. He'll take that news to heart, but for now he has to watch over women and his own family. He'll need to prepare if that news means anything.

(**Naruto)**

Naruto put away the piece of paper and frowned. He knew he would have to talk to Tsunade soon, as well as Jiraiya, but he wants to put that off for now. He doesn't need his head bitten off just yet. He also needs to speak to Kushina again too. Hopefully, nothing wrong will happen with them and Yuri won't go blabbing to Minato. The blond then reached behind him and pulled out the Quill Blade from a holder on the back of his waist. He examined it for a bit and wondered if he'd be able to master it too.

"You want to start your training on that thing?" Naoto asked as he appeared, sitting next to the blond.

"I'd like to learn soon," Naruto replied. "Do you know how useful it would be to be able to write seals on the fly like that? Only just using chakra?"

"I know very well, I'm a master with that blade after all." Naoto then turned to his descendant of sorts. "Although training will take a long period of time. Not only will you need to learn how to draw chakra into the blade and stabilize it into writing the seal midair, you'll also need to learn how to change the blade from sword to quill form in an instant. It would be such a shame if you could not do that and then die in battle."

"I know." He then turned towards Naoto. "How long did it take for you to master this thing?" Naoto took the blade from Naruto and thought to himself for a few moments before speaking.

"A few months was all it took, and that is going fast compared to others who had gotten a similar weapon. They took a few years or so to get everything down like me. Although, I was considered the smartest person in my age group so that could have been factored in there somewhere." The red headed spirit then turned to Naruto. "Let's get you working. If you're really wanting to get to the Vault, you're going to have to face Kouga for his duster."

"What can you tell me about him?"

"I won't say much, for it's a challenge so to speak. To prove your worth, although I'll give you a hint at what he excels at."

"What is it?"

"He was nicknamed the **Buso Kiba, **the Armed Fang. That should give you enough to guess what he is good at." Naoto then stood up and threw the sword at Naruto. "Now, let's get your training started. We have a week to get your proficient at using the Quill Blade and during this time I'm going to train you to write like a doctor such as myself as well.

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><p><strong>Author's End Notes: <strong>So tell me what you think. Leave a review. I want to know where I went wrong and where I went sorta right. Next Chapter it's Naruto vs Kouga Uzumaki, the Armed Fang. That will take a while to write, especially since I see it being a violent chapter.


	19. Connections

**Author's Notes: **Okay, thanks again for everything guys. Helps motivate me to keep writing. I took the advice of one my readers, **npcfan**, and decided to hold off the battle between Kouga and Naruto for a chapter. So here is the next chapter of **Going My Way! **Enjoy!  
>Almost forgot to say this but, thank Naginator for beta-ing.<p>

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>"You're still taking too much time writing the seal," Naoto muttered in the sidelines as he watched Naruto write out the characters for 'chakra' and 'seal'. It had been about two days since the whole incident that united the two Uzumaki's together and they were midway through Hi no Kuni already. This was due to Naruto using <em>Raiton no Yoroi <em>once again just to travel. It's not like he really needed it, but he wanted to rush to Iwa already.

As they traveled the Mad Doctor had started on Naruto's training. Naoto was happy at the fact that Naruto was able to get the whole managing to put the right amount of chakra into the blade. The blond explained to him that it mostly came from find out how much chakra he needed to put into the _Koutei no Ryuu_ jutsus that helped him gain a firm grasp on chakra control. Now since they really didn't need to worry about that, they had to worry about the next part in their training: writing the seals themselves.

"But I'm so used to using to writing like this!" Naruto whined as he wrote the characters again and again. "Do you think it would be easy for me to just write sloppy? What type of fuuinjutsu master do you think would write like that."

"Ones who found a way to go around the need to write in a pretty fashion." Naoto then gave him a pointed look. "Some fuuinjutsu masters can even apply seals they have mastered just by touching the surface of where they want to apply it. I'm sure the person who you intend to fight, seeing as you told me they were a master in the arts, would be able to do that too." Now the spirit had a frown on his face. "Now, just stop whining and keep on writing. The moment you can write that explosive seal I am making you do, you won't need explosive tags anymore."

"Fine, fine." Naruto mumbled as he began writing in the air again. As he wrote, he did the strokes needed for the kanji once again. When he finished, the seal was made. The blond was able to shape the seal into an arrow and throw it into a tree where it exploded. "You know you never explained to me how these things are happening. How chakra goes into the blade, how the blade then makes it possible to create a seal just using the chakra, and how we are able to write on something that has no real tangible surface." He then felt something smack the back of his head. He saw Naoto right next to him after doing the seal. The red head then took the blade from his young pupil.

"You're still writing too slow." Naoto did the exact same seal as Naruto did and surprised him at the speed he wrote. The blond could clearly see that the writing was sloppy and messy, but the seal came out just the same. "You have to remember Naruto, that the Quill Blade has a seal on it that would fix any mistakes on the writing. No matter how sloppy it is." He then offered the blade back to Naruto who accepted it and began to practice again. "As for your questions, I'm not really sure either. I wasn't the one who created the blade."

"Huh?" Naruto asked mid-stroke. "You didn't make this?"

"I told you before I was given this blade. The Uzumaki clan head was the one who gave this to several of us people in the clan. Mine is one of the few that remained intact. Also, mine is the only one with a sealed soul in it." Naoto then looked at Naruto who had managed to make the seal again. "You're getting a bit faster, but still you need to adapt to the speed at which I am at. If you don't, it would be pointless to use that blade."

"Damn you're one hard task master you know."

"I'm being kind to you. If you were truly my student, the one who'd I pass on all my knowledge to, I'd be even harder on you. However, since you're not going to be a medical ninja I won't have to." Naoto then stared at Naruto again. "Take a break. I guess you would like to talk to your friends right?" Naruto rolled his eyes but gave a sigh of relief. He had been at this for a good three hours, just writing one seal over and over again. Walking over to his bag, he pulled out the piece of paper that let him communicate to other people and sighed.

"Who should I talk to?"

(**Tsunade)**

Tsunade and Shizune had arrived at their house a few days prior. She made a promise to Jiraiya to not say anything about the perverted sage's and Naruto's speculations. She really despised not being able to do something to help out, but here she was acting as if nothing really happened. When they had arrived home, Jiraiya noticed that there were several bugs in their house, probably installed after Naruto had left. They proceeded to take them out, then Jiraiya had altered them so they would not actually send the right information to the people who were watching the house.

She had no contact with Naruto at all for the past few days and it was making her worried. Shizune was taking it worse than her. The poor girl had been pacing around the hospital and her room nonstop since they arrived back in Konoha. Sighing, Tsunade went back to her room to rest her head. As she entered she heard a high pitch whistle coming from her drawer. Slowly walking up to it, as to make sure it was not some sort of trap. When she opened the drawer she found the noise coming from a piece of paper. Taking the paper out she looked it over and found some words that surprised her.

_**N: Hey obaa-chan how you doing?**_

Tsunade's eyes widened. She knew that writing anywhere. Naruto had some how made contact with her. All she had to do now was find out how to reply to him.

_**N: Since you are new to this, just write whatever you need to to reply.**_

Getting her answer she took a pen and wrote down the very first thing that came to her head.

_**Tsunade: I am going to murder you when I see you again you stupid brat. What the hell were you thinking running away like that! I'm going to pound you into dust and scatter them into the four winds to make sure that no one would ever find your remains you here me! I'm not going to stand here and watch you kill yourself by doing stupid shit like this ever again! If you get hurt don't come running to me!**_

There was no response for a couple of minutes before words appeared again.

_**N: You done ranting?**_

_**Tsunade: Yeah. **_

_**N: Feeling any better after all that shouting?**_

_**Tsunade: Much.**_

_**N: Good. I really didn't want to speak to you while you were so freaking angry. And for the record I'm sorry.**_

_**Tsunade: You're forgiven, but I'm still going to beat you to a pulp when I see you again for worrying me.**_

_**N: I wouldn't mind that, I probably deserve it anyway.**_

The blond woman smiled at that. Her boy was still trying to make her happy.

_**Tsunade: So are you going to try to catch me up on everything that has occurred since you have left?**_

_**N: Ugh...why does everyone keep asking me to catch them up on those sorts of things. Okay I'll just make this short since my current um...trainer, wants me to keep moving. Okay so after we left Itachi and I planned to do somethings. I'll be heading somewhere to take care of somethings and then set up a base in a distant village. He will go out and do missions. Recently, you'll probably get news about this soon, I had gotten in an encounter to the east of Konoha. As of right now, I'm heading towards the west looking for something.**_

_**Tsunade: Looking for what and where to?**_

_**N: Well my trainer says it's a duster, and no before you ask it's not a feather duster. It is one of those long coats that people have, similar to the one Minato-teme has but made of leather. As to where I'm going, I won't say. You'll probably be madder at me if you found out.**_

That made the woman frown. If he said that, that must mean that he was going to walk straight into enemy territory. If it was to the west, it was probably Iwagakure. That made her frown even more. If anything those people still have not truly forgiven Minato for the whole massacre of their army. Tsunade really wanted to tell him not to go there, that he'd probably just endanger his life even more, but she knew he wouldn't listen. It was something he wanted

_**Tsunade: Just...be careful out there okay.**_

_**N: I will baa-chan you know that. This little call is a business call by the way. **_

Tsunade raised her eyebrow at that. He rarely went serious for anything around her.

_**Tsunade: What do you mean?**_

_**N: I have asked several other people around the village to gather information for me and send me weekly reports on the on goings of the village. I want you to do the same thing.**_

_**Tsunade: Of course I'll do that Naruto. I'll help out your cause.**_

_**N: Good. I also want you to do something for me. I want you to get into contact with Ero-sensei. If you can, have him prepare an escape route.**_

Now that had her intrigued. Why would Naruto need an escape route ready in Konoha.

_**Tsunade: Why?**_

_**N: Contingency plan. I want to be sure that Kushina-sama and the girls have an escape plan just in case Minato-teme would do something. Can you do that for me please?**_

Tsunade knew that if she could see Naruto, he'd have a pleading face on his face. The woman already knew her answer though.

_**Tsunade: Of course Naruto, I would do that for them.**_

_**N: Thanks baa-chan. Do you have anything else to say? My trainer wants me to start moving again.**_

_**Tsunade: No-**_ (Before she finished writing she remember something.) _**Actually, I think Shizune wants to talk to you.**_

_**N: Shizune-nee?**_

_**Tsunade: Yes. Let me just call her for you.**_

_**N: Okay then.**_

Tsunade put her pen down and left the room. She walked straight into the room of her apprentice and found her still pacing. "Shizune, I need you to do something for me," Tsunade said, causing the girl to look at him.

"What is it Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked politely.

"I was thinking it would be a good time for you to write a journal about your feelings for Naruto. I mean it might be a long time until you see him again."

"Oh...I think that would be a good idea." Shizune muttered. "That will help me get stuff off my chest. Thank you for the idea." The girl went to her desk and about to start working when Tsunade stopped her.

"Actually I have a special paper that hides the ink. I'll let you have it. You know to keep it secret."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I'd like that Tsunade-sama."

"Just give me a moment to get it." When her apprentice nodded the blond woman left the room and went back into her own. She grabbed the pen and wrote into the paper.

_**Tsunade: Naruto let Shizune start writing. Don't say anything in return until she's done with her script okay. Don't even greet her until then okay?**_

_**N: Don't understand why but okay.**_

(Naruto)

So Naruto waited for Shizune to start finish writing. Naoto had stood retreated back into the blade to rest for a bit. The message Shizune wrote wouldn't appear for a few minutes but Naruto was stunned to say the least when he read it.

_**Shizune:**_

_**Well, seeing as this is a small piece of paper I think I'll keep this log short and to the point then. Tsunade-sama has to ld me to write my feelings for a certain boy here and it would be kept secret. I think she's plotting something but I'll take my chances to get this...thing off my chest.**_

_**I don't know how to say it but, for the past few years I've been in love with someone. People would laugh at me if I said who out loud, namely because of the age difference, so I keep it to myself. Tsunade-sama knows about it, hence me writing right now. This person is so sweet, kind and gentle. He's funny, adventurous and strong. There are so many words that could describe the person I love that it would take over a hundred of these pages to make for me to completely describe him. Sadly, I don't know where he is right now. An incident occurred that made him leave. It breaks my heart not knowing where he is right now but…**_

_**No I must no falter here. I have to say it even on this piece of paper. I love my otouto, I love my Naruto-kun. Ever since he was seven I had a crush on him. Even with a decade between us, I still love him. I really wish I could tell him this but I'm scared. So here it is on a piece of paper. One that will conceal my desires. Hopefully, I will find the strength to tell this to him…one day.**_

After reading that Naruto was speechless. _'Shizune felt that way about me?'_ he thought to himself. _'Guh, I should have seen the signs. She was acting like Ayame was acting towards Itachi. Damn, I always saw her as a sister, was that the reason I couldn't see it?'_ The blond knew he had to respond, that was what Tsunade had planned after all, that sneaky woman. Taking his pen, Naruto wrote back.

_**N: I didn't know you felt like that for me Shizune.**_

(Shizune)

"KYAA!" Shizune nearly fell out of her chair when the message came onto the paper. She saw the words disappeared after she wrote her message. The medic-nin knew Tsunade told the truth then. She just didn't expect to get a reply from the paper. From the writing she could tell it was from only one person.

With a shaky hand she wrote down: _**Naruto?**_

_**N: The one and only.**_

After reading that the poor girl fainted. When she came to, the it was already night time and she found herself in bed. Sitting up and massaging her head she let out a groan. "You feeling better?" Tsunade asked. Shizune looked to the left of her bed to see her mentor and best friend sitting there drinking tea.

"Ugh...what happened?" Shizune asked.

"You fainted."

"Really? From what?"

"How would I know?"

"Tsunade-sama, I just had the strangest dream. I confessed my love for Naruto on a piece of paper and found out that he was able to read it and reply. Funny huh?" When she saw her mentor smirking at her, all the color left Shizune's face. "That really happened didn't it? I just confessed to Naruto through some sort of text?" The female Sannin nodded her head. "OH. MY. GOD!" Shizune's face lit up like a fire and her face was buried in her hands. "I can't believe you tricked me into saying that! What will he say to me when I see him again? Or when I manage to talk to him again! This is going to be so embarrassing! And what of his girlfriend, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god."

Tsunade sighed and gave her panicked apprentice a tiny love top on the forehead. Shizune rubbed it and stared at her mentor. "When you fainted, I told Naruto what happened. He told me that, he'd speak to you about it but it should be face to face. I don't know when that will happen, but I want you to take this time to prepare yourself. Do you understand me?" Shizune nodded.

"Good. Now go eat some dinner, take a bath and rest. We have a full week of ahead of us."

"Hai...Tsunade-sama." When Shizune left, Tsunade remembered one thing in the messages Naruto had sent her after hearing the confession. Naruto had stopped calling Shizune Nee-chan.

"_What are you going to do about our little Shizune, Naruto?"_

(Naruto)

"Are you still worrying about that confession from that woman?" Naoto asked as Naruto hopped from one branch to the next. He was still inside the blade, but he could speak to Naruto.

"I am. It's not everyday that your nee-chan would suddenly turn into a woman who likes you in a non-familial way," Naruto grunted as he hopped to the next branch. "Not only that, I have to think of my relationship with Yukie."

"Ah so you already have a lover?" Naruto blushed at what he implied.

"Not like that you stupid ghost! She's only thirteen, hell I'm only thirteen!"

"Age is but a number boy." Naruto muttered under his breath about stupid ghosts and old ways. As he hopped onto the next branch he stopped when he felt people enter his dome of air. He knew the shapes that entered it and raised an eyebrow at that. Turning around Naruto felt them moving through _Harukaze Miyabi_ and they were only a few meters away now.

"What can I do for you Darui, C, Yugito?" he asked as the trio of Kumo ninjas arrived in front of him.

"Hello Naruto-san," Darui greeted. C nodded at him, while Yugito frowned. She still didn't like him, ever since she found out he could chain her easily and stop her from accessing her bijuu's chakra.

"Naruto, you are one hard person to find you know that?" C sighed. "We had to use Yugito here to track you down?" When Naruto raised an eyebrow at them C elbowed Yugito in her side.

"You still smell like a cat," Yugito muttered. "We followed some information from villages who saw you pass through. If I could smell some sort of cat there we followed it until we found you."

"Okay then…" Naruto mumbled. "What are you three doing here?"

"A-sama gave us the dull mission to ask you and Itachi Uchiha to join Kumogakure," Darui drawled out. The trio saw Naruto tense for a second and they tensed too. They were told to flee from him if he wanted a fight.

"And if I were to refuse this...offer?"

"We were told to leave you alone." Naruto looked at them before drawing the Quill Blade from his back. The blond saw that they were about to bolt but held up his hand.

"Don't worry I won't try to fight you. I'm just going to see if you're telling the truth."

"How are you going to do that?" Yugito asked. The blade in Naruto's hand shrunk and he wrote the word for truth in the air. Since this was their first time seeing it, the trio was awed at that. They also could swear they heard a voice coming from somewhere saying the words 'You're still too slow.' The glowing character then turned into an arrow and slammed into C.

"C, tell me, if I declined your offer what would you guys do?"

"We were told to leave you, and if you wanted to battle we were to flee immediately," C confessed even though he couldn't control his own mouth. Naruto nodded and put the blade away. C touched his mouth and looked at him. "What did you do to me?"

"I placed a truth seal on you. It's a seal that makes you speak the truth." The blond then turned around to leave. "Go tell A-san that even though I am a nuke-nin, my allegiance is still to Konoha. Although, I will offer my services as a nuke-nin to him if he is willing to pay me for the missions." Naruto reached into his pocket and threw a piece of paper at them. "You'll contact me through there. Just write the number one in the corner and it write what you want. Got it?"

"Got it. Good luck to whatever you are doing Naruto-san," Darui stated. He then turned to his team and order them to leave the area. Before they could leave though Naruto spoke out again.

"Yugito-san, if you need someone to look over your seal, I'll be willing to help."

"What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I can feel some of the nibi's chakra in your system. If it manages to get loose…I'll handle it okay. We are friends after all." Yugito opened her mouth to give a snide remark about them not being friends but closed it at the insistence of Darui.

"Fine. If I ever need help I will call upon you." After that Naruto jumped off in the opposite direction as themselves. "I never considered him a friend."

"You should," Darui replied. "He has kept a correspondence with our team during these five years via mail. He likes talking to us Yugito. Don't forget that he was the one who convinced Raikage-sama to agree into the truce we have with Konoha. He even greeted us kindly and showed us around Konoha when we visited. He's a friend whether you like it or not." Yugito put her lips into a thin line and did not respond. In her head though, another female voice told her that she should lighten up and just befriend the boy since he seemed kind and caring. That and he would make a good mate.

(Uchiha)

"Okaa-san," Itachi opened the door to the room that his mother and brother shared. Mikoto looked up and saw that he held a piece of paper to her. "Naruto wanted to speak to you since you asked for it last time."

"Thank you. Are you sure that you aren't done with your information exchange though?" Mikoto asked her son.

"We are. He told me about Kumo, about how his spy network was growing in Konoha and a few other things. He also told me that Tsunade-sama has given Ayame-chan a communication paper as well. If you could be so kind, please be fast. I want to speak to Ayame."

"You know, you still have not introduced me to your girlfriend," Mikoto teased.

"When we can go back to Konoha, I'll introduce you two. For now though, please speak to Naruto."

"Fine." She took the paper and walked over to a desk.

_**M: Hello Naruto-kun.**_

_**N: Mikoto-sama, how are you?**_

_**M: I am better now thank you for asking. Are you taking care of yourself?**_

_**N: Yes, Mikoto-sama. I am. I also have someone watching over my back, so don't worry about it.**_

_**M: I see that's good to hear.**_

_**N: Mikoto-sama, I wanted to tell you that when I see you again, we are going to have to talk.**_

That confused the woman. What did she and Naruto have to talk about?

_**M: About what Naruto-kun?**_

_**N: I know how you're hiding your pain right now Mikoto-sama. How you're trying to be strong for your Sasuke, for Itachi, hell even for me. You don't want us to worry about you, so you're putting up a strong front. Both Itachi and I know this.**_

Black eyes widen at that. Her son knew she was in more pain than she was in, and his best friend did too?

_**M: Naruto. I…don't know what to say.**_

_**N: Don't say anything just yet. When we meet up, I'll be a shoulder to cry on if need be. I know you won't do this with Itachi, you don't want your son to worry about you even more than he already has. So when he leaves and you're under my care, you can let it all out okay? Can you wait until then?**_

Mikoto really did not know what to say to that. She was so sure she hid it well enough from the two boys but she was wrong apparently and now one of them was offering to be her emotional punching bag when they meet up again. Would she take his offer on this?

_**M: Okay. Is that all you wanted?**_

_**N: With you yes, but could you please give it to Sasuke?**_

_**M: Sasuke?**_

_**N: Yeah. I need to talk to him too.**_

_**M: If you are sure.**_

Mikoto stood up and went to the kitchen. Sasuke was sitting down at the table with various cats milling about. His eyes were still cold and partially dead to the world. "Sasuke," Mikoto called out.

"Yes okaa-san?" Sasuke asked.

"Naruto-kun wants to speak to you."

"He does?"

"Yes." She hands him the paper and the pen, before sitting next to him.

_**S: Naruto-san?**_

_**N: Sup Sasuke. How's life treating you?**_

At the choice of word Sasuke frowned.

_**S: That was...poorly chosen Naruto-san.**_

_**N: I know, I know. I just wondering how you are doing.**_

_**S: I'm doing fine, or better than before.**_

_**N: Sasuke, I know you are devastated by the effects of what had happened that night, but I want you to do something for me.**_

_**S: What is that?**_

_**N: Talk to your mother about the good times you had with your family.**_

_**S: Why?**_

_**N: For one thing, it will get it off your chest and help you move on. Remember the good times you had, remember all of the great things you had with your clan. Yes, it will be painful, but remember to remember them after their recent death but try to keep them in a good light in your eyes as to not forget them.**_

_**S: I guess I can do that.**_

_**N: Good. Now you little brat, if you do this and help out your mom around the place, I promise to teach you some of the stuff I've learned over the past few years.**_

The change in subject got Sasuke's eyes to widen, especially since he was always interested in Naruto's jutsus.

_**S: You're willing to teach me some of your jutsus?**_

_**N: Yeah. Just be a good boy and do what I asked of you okay.**_

_**S: Got it Naruto-san.**_

_**N: And tell your mom to not worry about me too much. I'm not the same stupid kid I was five years ago.**_

Mikoto read that over his shoulder and laughed. "He may not be the same stupid kid, but he's still Naruto," she muttered. "Let's give this paper to your nii-san and then let's do what he said okay?"

"Hai okaa-san."

(Time skip)

Naruto was traveling through the mountain side slowly. He still was training with Naoto, and he was happy to see that he had was getting faster at writing seals. He was also happy that he could change the size of the blade quicker now.

The blond had just managed to get past border patrol a few hours ago, having slipped by the Konoha ninjas. Naruto also stopped by one of the supply depots to steal some supplies for himself. He stole food, water, a new cloak, and some other necessities. Not only that but he had managed to swipe off a current bingo book from a sleeping Konoha ninja.

"Damn, Minato-teme put a high bounty on me," Naruto whistled as he walked down a beaten path. The blond then gave it to Naoto. "It's in the millions."

"That is a rather high number," Naoto agreed as he walked along side him. The Mad Doctor was looking at the information about the blond.

Naruto Uzumaki: Shining Imprisoner

Age: 13

D.o.B: October 10

Hair: Blond

Eyes: Blue

Height: 154 cm (approx. 5 ft.)

Weight: 45 kg (approx. 100 lb.)

Rank: ANBU *Captain*

Ninja Registration Number: 012607

Class: S-Class

Reason for Desertion: Attempted coup with Uchiha clan.

Threat Level: Extremely High, Kill on sight

Known Jutsus:…

Along with those were several other things such as intelligence, taijutsu, genjutsu on a rating scale from one to five, with five being the highest. He scored mostly fours on them, genjutsu was a two, taijutsu was a five. "What sort of alias is Shining Imprisoner?" Naoto asked when he reread that name again.

"It has to do with my jutsus," Naruto explained. "Most of my jutsus somehow manage to stop people's movements, thus calling me an imprisoner. It's mostly attributed to the _Koutei no Ryuu_ jutsus, along with the chains that I can produce, but there are a few other techniques I have that block movement."

"That is the 'Imprisoner' part. How about the 'Shining?'"

"That comes from my kekkei genkai." Naruto lifted up his hand and created a small disk made out of ranton chakra. "Storm Release is a kekkei genkai that is a mixture of suiton and raiton chakras. It gives electricity a 'flowing' quality just like water. It also let's me control them a bit. Just like what I did with _Ranton: Hoshi Hanabi_. Due to the glow I get I was given that title by my men."

"I see." From that point on, both Naoto and Naruto had just walked in silence, Naoto reading up on the current nuke-nins and Naruto thinking about the past and future.

(Time Skip)

Kushina had finished cleaning up the lunch she had for herself before going to her bedroom. She laid down on her bed and thought about what had occurred recently to her family. Yuri was growing distant towards her and Tsubaki that they had to watch her every time that Minato was around. The two red heads didn't want the only other person in their family to ruin the small connection they have made with Naruto. Tsubaki on the other hand was acting as if nothing had happened, as per her request. She still went to school and did her chores like she usually did, but Kushina found herself amazed at something. Tsubaki was spending more time with her and smiling more.

During her time under the seal's control, she remembered that Tsubaki wouldn't speak much and tend to shy away from others, even from her own family. The only person whose presence she allowed was Naruto. Kushina thought it was due to the fact there was an attempted murder on the girl by her own nanny when they were five years old. Kushina was away buying groceries with Yuri before her lessons with Naruto and Minato was at work. Tsubaki didn't want to go so she was left with a nanny. The nanny was someone who they trusted with all their hearts, so they left the children with her. When Kushina and Yuri came back, she saw blood on the floor of their house and the nanny dead on the floor with a kunai in her back. She rushed into the house, went to Tsubaki's room where she heard and saw Naruto holding a crying Tsubaki in his arms. He was rubbing the girl's back with one hand, while the other was holding a kunai. His eyes were trained on the door.

The blond explained to her that when he arrived for his lessons, that the door was locked and he heard shouting coming from the inside. He busted the door open and saw that the nanny was standing over Tsubaki with a kitchen knife in hand poised to strike. Naruto had tackled the nanny and rushed to Tsubaki's side. He continued on to say that the nanny called Tsubaki a demon and demanded for her death. Naruto was forced to kill her and Tsubaki was taken up the stairs by a clone.

That night Tsubaki wouldn't calm down at all, she kept crying and crying. When Naruto decided to leave, she wouldn't let him and clung onto him. The little girl pleaded for him to stay. She even flinched when Kushina and Minato tried to separate the two. So, they let the boy stay the night in her room, in her bed. It had been weeks before Tsubaki would be able to sleep without some something that reminded her of Naruto in the room.

Snapping out of her reveries, Kushina decided it was time to catch up with her son again. She hadn't spoken to him in a few days, since he told her she was training and on the move. _'But since I am his mother, I can tell him to stop and speak to me,'_ she thought with a smile. The red headed woman went to her underwear drawer that she kept the paper in and nearly screamed in shock. The paper wasn't in there. Rummaging through her panties and lingerie, she couldn't find it at all.

"Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?"

"Okaa-san I'm home!" Tsubaki called out as she entered their house. She went up the stairs to find her frantic mother. "Okaa-san what's wrong?"

"Tsubaki, that paper is missing." That made the red headed girl's eyes widen. "I know I didn't misplace it and it's not in the drawer."

"Oh no, do you think...Yuri took it to otou-san?" Kushina's head whipped up and looked at her daughter. She then rushed past her to Yuri's bedroom to find the girl sitting at her desk, her eyes trained on the paper she was looking for with a pen in hand. Tsubaki made her way there too but was stopped by her mother. Kushina motioned for Tsubaki to be quiet and to just watch.

(Yuri)

The blond Namikaze girl was looking at the paper with some contempt. On the other side of this paper was the person who ruined her family in her eyes. The one who brought her world crumbling down. She frowned at the paper even more. She wanted to say something to the blond idiot on the other side, but she didn't know what to say. Even after leaving school early and sneaking past her mother to steal the paper, Yuri had the paper with her for a good hour and still had nothing to say to the boy. Deciding to go with her gut, Yuri wrote the number one in the corner and wrote her message.

_**Y: Naruto Uzumaki are you there?**_

_**N: Who are you and why do you have this paper? What did you do to my Kushina-sama?**_

The letters were scribbled in a hurried and furious pace, showing Yuri that Naruto was worried for her okaa-san.

_**Y: Don't worry she is safe. It is I, Yuri Namikaze.**_

_**N: Oh. What do you want?"**_

_**Y: I wanted to deliver a message to you.**_

_**N: Which is?**_

That question was a rather valid one. What _was_ her message to the person who had intruded into her life all those years ago, the one who had changed it so drastically in the present. Taking a deep breath, she chose her words carefully.

_**Y: I hate you. I hate you for all the things you have done to me. You ruined my family. My okaa-san thinks otou-san is evil. My sister thinks you're the greatest thing in the world. YOU broke down my perfect little world Naruto Uzumaki, that is why I hate.**_

The other end of the paper did not respond for a few minutes before a single sentence came back.

_**N: Is that all, or do you have any other reasons to hate me?**_

Now that had her attention again. Did she have other reasons to hate him? Before she knew it, her hand was already responding, writing in a similar rushed and furious manner as the first message she got from Naruto.

_**Y: I hate the fact that you stole okaa-san's attention from me when I was younger! I hate the fact that you have my sister's affection more than I do! I hate the fact that my father hates you! I hate the fact that you have the attention of all my entire family, even my own! I hate that you laugh and play with Tsubaki! I hate that you spend time learning with okaa-san! I hate that you and my otou-san argued every time! Most of all I hate how you paid very little attention to me when I was younger!**_

After the little rant, her eyes widened and her hand dropped the pen as if it burned her. She moved back from her desk a bit and looked at the paper. _'Did I just write down all that? Did I write down that I was actually striving for his attention too?'_ Yuri thought to herself. That was one of her secrets that she swore she'd never say aloud, that she actually wanted the attention of the blond boy who kept visiting her home. She may have found him intriguing and a mystery, but she found him to be funny and a great person as well; she saw him as a great friend and probably a great brother if they were related. When he started paying less attention to her and more to the rest of her family, especially Tsubaki, she felt hurt and confused.

So she took the comfort she was given by her father, the attention he gave her and grew a bit attached. When she started training as a ninja, she tried to get some training from him too but he was always busy so she ended up demanding it from other people saying that she deserved it because she was the Hokage's daughter. This was what led him to believe that she had a big ego. All she was really doing was calling out to him, to give one look in her direction, just like he did with her sister and her parents. And now, he knew.

As she stared at the paper words formed. Slowly walking to it, she peered at the words on it.

_**N: Yuri...I-I didn't know. Kami, I feel bad. I should have seen it. I...I'm sorry Yuri. I didn't mean to ignore you like that.**_

Yuri looked at it and wondered if it was sincere. Since she couldn't see his face, she really couldn't read his emotions. Taking the pen off the ground, she wrote back.

_**Y: Do you mean that?**_

_**N: Every word. Kami, I feel like a big prick. I promise I won't ignore you from now on and I always keep my promises. If you want to talk to me just ask Kushina-sama to give you the paper and I will try my best to reply okay.**_

Yuri looked at it. She wanted to take his word for it, to truly believe in what he was saying. She wanted his attention so bad. So the next thing she wrote down was her ultimatum of sorts.

_**Y: You better keep that promise. If you don't I'm going to drive a chakra enhanced foot into your balls.**_

_**N: You can believe, 'ttebayo. Just promise me you won't cause trouble for Tsubaki and Kushina-sama.**_

_**Y: Okay. Just one last thing though.**_

_**N: What is it?**_

_**Y: Can you...can you call me the same you do Tsubaki?**_

_**N: Of course...Yuri-hime. I have to go for now, I'm close to my destination. I won't know how long I'll be gone, but I'll contact you guys first when I'm done with what I'm doing. Goodbye Yuri-hime.**_

_**Y: Goodbye, Naruto-kun.**_

Yuri felt heat in her cheeks when read his response. Being called 'Yuri-hime' by him made her heart flutter a bit. The blond girl was sure she had a blush on her her entire face. A cough grabbed her attention and she saw her okaa-san and Tsubaki looking at her. "Okaa-san! Tsubaki!

"So is there anything you'd like to tell us Yuri?" Kushina asked. "Namely, why you're blushing like that.

"N-No!" Yuri then hung her head and offered the paper to Kushina. "I'm sorry for stealing it. I just...I just wanted to talk to Naruto-san about something. To clear the air between us."

"Oh? How'd that end up?" Tsubaki asked in a polite manner.

"Better than I expected."

"So are you going to tell us why you were blushing at the end?" Kushina teased.

"O-Okaa-san!"

(Naruto) After Naruto had ended his conversation with Yuri, he made a promise to himself that he wouldn't ignore her. After the whole nanny stint at the Namikaze household, he found that he was always taking care of Tsubaki and only now did he notice that he had barely paid attention to Yuri.

Shaking those thoughts out, Naruto was staring over the great village of Iwagakure. There were several tall building made out of stone and the village itself was surrounded by mountains and a few waterfalls. "So he's in here huh?" Naruto asked the air. Soon Naoto materialized next to him.

"Yes, Kouga Uzumaki is in there somewhere," he replied.

"Well, let's go then."

(Within Iwa)

A long white leather duster started glowing with chakra. The energy was strong enough to actually light up the room, and then it stopped a few seconds later. If there was anyone present they would have been able to hear the whisper coming from it. "So Naoto has woken us up for a pupil…" the voice stated. "Very well, let us test him out."

* * *

><p>Leave a review yeah? Tell me what I did write, what I did wrong. What you liked and what you really didn't like. Until sometime by the end of next week Peace!<p> 


	20. The Armed Fang

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

* * *

><p>Naruto slowly made his way through the gates of Iwagakure with their ninja's not being any the wiser. Although that could be attributed to him not looking like himself. Naoto had written a rather complex seal and had Naruto pump a lot of chakra into it. From what he had seen of the seal, all there was to it was a few seals that created several genjutsu's; minor ones that stacked onto of the other. To be put bluntly, it was a seal that mimicked a henge but also seemed to conceal the chakra of the user.<p>

So the real reason why Naruto had just walked in through the gates was because he did not look like himself. He actually was henged into looking like Naoto himself. As he made his way through the very first thought Naruto had

about the place was "Where can I get some ramen?"

"_We're here to get an ancient Uzumaki clan artifact and the first thing you think of is where you can get some ramen?"_Naoto asked from his place inside the Quill Blade.

"_What, I'm hungry," _Naruto replied mentally_. "I haven't had a good bowl of ramen since I've left Konoha so deal with it!" _Naruto then frowned._"By the way can't you make this illusion less…similar to you?"_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I mean I don't want to look like you the entire time I'm in Iwagakure."_

"_I see. Fine, just find a bathroom and dispel the illusion. After that just write 'illusion-red hair' somewhere on your arm. That should change it enough for you right?"_

"_I guess…" _Naruto sighed. He walked around until he found a public bathroom. He went into the men's room and into the stall. Dropping the genjutsu, Naruto took out the Quill blade and wrote on his forearm what Naoto told him. He felt his chakra surge for a brief moment before it stopped. Exiting the stall, Naruto made his way towards the mirror. He looked exactly like himself but his hair was now in the color of the signature Uzumaki red. "Sweet. Now time to find some ramen."

Making his way through Iwagakure, Naruto took in the sites. Unlike Konoha, which was full of trees, Iwa was very mountainous. Almost on all sides of the village were mountains and several waterfalls. It was similar to Kumo in a way, but instead of going up towards the heavens Iwa was firmly rooted to the ground. That was not the only thing Naruto found in common between the two. The young boy noticed all the shinobi walking around._"Even in a time of peace, they still have a standing ninja army. It's just like Kumo."_

"_Why, is Konoha not like this?"_Naoto asked.

"_No. Konoha is more lax compared to what this place is. That was one of the reasons I was able to escape so easily."_"Enough of that though," Naruto said aloud. "I need to find myself some ramen." He walked down the streets and asked several people where the best ramen shop in the village was. All of them pointed to different directions. So after five minutes of asking, Naruto was sitting on a park bench looking at the long list of ramen shops that

people had suggested to him. "Man…I don't know which one to go to."

As he was contemplating it, a cat stopped and jumped onto his lap. "Well this is odd," Naruto said to himself. He then started to pet the cat's head and scratch its ears. "What are you doing out here on your own little fella?" That cat seemed to purr into his hands.

"Hey!" Naruto and the cat looked up to see a trio of kids around his age running up to him. One was a girl with black hair, one was a fat boy and the last one was a kid with brown hair. "Hold that cat!" The trio of teens made it in front of him and were out of breath. Naruto chuckled as the girl hatefully glared at the cat in his arms, while the two boys tried to catch their breath. "Do you mind giving the cat to us?"

"Why?" Naruto asked innocently.

"So I can skin it alive."

"Kurotsuchi! You know we have to get Taiga-san back to the Daimyo's wife," the pudgy boy whined. "Your grandpa is going to get mad if you try to hurt it again, and besides it's our mission!"

"I don't care if it's our mission Akatsuchi!" the girl now named Kurotsuchi shouted back. "This cat needs to die! Think of all the trouble it gives to us genin! In one day alone five squads have gone to catch this cat!" Naruto started laughing really hard, causing the people to look at him weirdly. "What's wrong with you?"

"Ah…nothing, it's just that they have the same problem when I visited another village to try out their ramen," Naruto lied effortlessly. "I saw all these kids running after a cat just like you. It was just so funny I couldn't help but laugh at you three."

"Watch it punk," Kurotsuchi growled. "Now give me that cat!" Naruto looked at the cat that looked back pleadingly towards him as if it were asking not to be given to the girl.

"Um…I'll give it to your teammate not you. He doesn't seem like he wants to kill the cat here." Akatsuchi smiled while Kurotsuchi frowned at him. "By the way what's this guy's name?" Naruto asked about the third person. When the boy opened his mouth to respond, Kurotsuchi started speaking again.

"It doesn't matter what his name is. Now just give me Taiga and we'll leave you alone." Naruto rolled his eyes and gave the cat to the fat boy.

"Thank you." The trio turned to leave and were already halfway through the park when Naruto called out to them.

"Hey wait!" Akatsuchi turned around and looked at him.

"Yes?"

"Where is the best ramen shop around here?"

"Oooh, if you want the best ramen shop around here you should go to Ikkimen's two blocks down. They have the best Miso pork ramen in all of Iwa."

"Thank you!" Naruto then turned and left the trio of genin. "Time to eat!"

(**Tsuchikage Tower)**

"My back is killing me," Onoki muttered under his breath as he arched is back. "I'm getting too old for all this shit." He then turned around to face two ninja with very nervous looks on their faces. "Tell me again how a person had just waltzed into Iwa under a genjutsu?"

"Sir it was rather intricate and-"

"A master at genjutsu noticed and tried to follow him, but they couldn't find him after he went into a bathroom." Onoki then glared harder causing the two to flinch. "There could be a spy in Iwa and it could be your fault!"

"We're sorry Tsuchikage-sama!" the two apologized, bowing their heads.

"Get out of my sight you useless twits!" The two rushed out of the office as fast as their feet could take them. When the door slammed shut, Onoki swiveled his chair around and rubbed his temples. He then reached into his desk and held out took out a microphone. He tapped the head and heard some reception on it. "People of Iwagakure, be warned there is an unknown person who entered our village. Ninjas if you find the person bring him towards me. This person is a master at genjutsu."

(**Naruto)**

When Naruto heard the announcement from the ramen shop he was eating in, he almost snorted._'Master at genjutsu my ass…'_After eating his fifth bowl of ramen, Naruto placed down the amount required for his meal and then stood up. "Thanks for the meal old man! Although I have to say it's not the best ramen I've tasted in my life."

"Oh, and where would the best ramen be?" the owner asked with a challenging smirk on his face.

"In a land far away." Naruto then smiled again before walking off. As he started turned a corner, Naoto appeared next to him. "So, Naoto-sensei where is this Kouga person staying?"

"From the very faint chakra signature I can feel from his duster, in the center of the village," the Mad Doctor replied while pointing at the Tsuchikage Tower. "It seems like he's in the basement of the building."

"Got it, let's go do this and leave." As he made his way towards the tower, Naruto made sure to note all the escape routes and any places of interest in case things go bad after being tested by Kouga. As he made it to the front door of the tower, Naruto noticed all the ninja walking around._'That call really got them on edge. If only Konoha were like this."_

"Sorry kid I can't let you in right now. I am under strict orders not to let anyone in," the chunin standing in front of the door told him.

"Oh, okay. Naoto-sensei if you would take care of this guy please."

"What are you tal-" Suddenly the chunin fell down and Naruto hurried inside.

"You didn't kill the man did you?" Naruto asked quietly as Naoto materialized next to him.

"No just knocked him out."

"Good. Now, time to find the basement." As Naruto made his way through the building, he did not see a pair of eyes

following him. After a few minutes of walking, Naruto finally found some stairs leading down to his destination. Reaching the bottom of the stairs, he found that the door to the storage room was locked. Gathering some chakra into his fist, Naruto smashed the handle and proceeded to go inside.

"Go to the left you should probably see a white coat over there," Naoto told him. Naruto followed the instructions and was met with a glass casing with the white leather coat he was looking for. It seemed rather old and dusty. There were some holes in the sleeves and other worn areas around the whole thing. The inside of the coat was a deep red, but after being worn out it seemed more like a pale mahogany.

"Looks kind of ratty to me Naoto-sensei."

"Just apply some chakra and blood on it and you'll see something spectacular happening."

"Alright if you insist, although I have to warn you there is an alarm."

"It is fine, just head my warning though. Prepare a weapon, Kouga is a rather violent." Naruto nodded and drew the Quill Blade. Walking up to the casing he smashed the glass. The alarms started going off, but Naruto paid no mind to it. He cut his thumb and smeared it on the coat before applying some chakra. After a flicker of energy, Naruto had to draw his hand back due to pain coursing through him.

"Hey you, what are you doing!" Naruto turned around to see who was shouting and cursed under his breath as he saw Kurotsuchi coming towards him. "You're coming with me! You're in trouble for breaking and entering the

Tsuchikage's Tower!"

"Get out of here! It's not safe!"

"What do you mean by that trespass-" She stopped talking when she felt a tug on her body. Naruto felt it too. He looked behind him towards the duster. He felt the pull coming from it. Suddenly, Naruto could feel the flow of chakra going on around him. The blond also saw Kurotsuchi falling too, what Naruto didn't know was that several people near the Tsuchikage Tower were also being affected. They were all collapsing to the floor feeling the drain on their chakra. Several medical ninjas were scurrying around trying to find out what was happening.

Back with Naruto. His eyes were trained on the duster in front of him. Slowly, it regained its luster and the tears were disappearing. After about a minute or so, the piece of clothing looked as if it were brand new. Gripping the blade tightly in his hands, Naruto prepared his body for anything that could happen. In the blink of an eye, the duster disappeared and Naruto stiffened. Twisting his body around Naruto raised up the Quill Blade and blocked a katana that was mere inches from his face. The blond then stared at the person holding it.

He stood a good head and a half over Naruto, with messy red hair. He had green eyes that seemed to analyze Naruto as he stood there blocking his attack. Around his torso was the duster Naruto was looking for, and underneath that was a tight black shirt. His legs were hugged by leather pants and black boots. Naruto also took in the fact that there was no sheath anywhere on this man's person. Meaning that the katana in front of came from a seal probably.

Naruto pushed upward and move the blade away from him. As he did, Kouga moved the bottom end of the coat and a spear shot out of it towards him. The blond rolled out of the way and deflected several shuriken that came from out of nowhere. The two men glared at each other before Naruto stood up. "Kouga Uzumaki I presume?" Naruto inquired as he began to circle around the small area the two of them were in. Kouga mimicked his movements, but Naruto didn't care. He just wanted to get in front of Kurotsuchi just in case Kouga wanted to attack civilians.

"And you are the pupil Naoto found," Kouga spoke. His voice was deep and regal sounding. "It is an honor to meet you Naruto Uzumaki. I take it that you are going to try and obtain my duster are you not?"

"Yup."

"Okay then." Kouga then looked to the side where Naoto was standing and looking at the two of them. "Mad Doctor, did you tell him anything about me?"

"Not a thing Armed Fang, save for your monicker," Naoto shrugged.

"Very well." Kouga turned towards Naruto again. "You know how to obtain the ownership of this duster right?"

"I have to 'kill' you don't I?" Naruto asked.

"Good, now please do not hold back, for I will not. Oh and you should get the girl out of the way. I would like not to hurt her if I don't need to." Kouga then shoved both hands forward and two daggers came flying out from his sleeves. Naruto looked behind him to see Kurotsuchi starting to stand up. He grabbed her and moved out of the way as the two daggers stabbed in the places they were previously standing.

"Get out of here!" Naruto told her as he put her down.

"What the hell is happening? Who is that? Who are you? Why are you two fighting?" the girl demanded. As Naruto opened his mouth to reply, he pushed her out of the way and brought up his weapon to block...an attack from an axe. It was a large battle axe that was coming up from an under hand swing. It was safe to say Naruto was surprised by the force of the attack; he was actually lifted up and shot towards the stairwell that led to the room. Naruto righted himself as he landed and saw the axe disappear into the duster. Kouga spread apart billowing tail coat of duster and suddenly over twenty knives shot out of the red part.

"Shit!" Naruto backflipped and ran up the stairs to avoid being skewered. As he ran up he saw ninjas coming from down both halls.

"Stop where you are!" a ninja shouted.

"Crap!" The blond then heard a whistling noise coming from behind him and ducked. He was lucky he did as a javelin imbedded itself into the wall in front of him. Naruto turned around to see Kouga running towards him. As the spirit passed by his knives they seemed to be absorbed back into the duster as he passed over it. Cursing under his breath, Naruto turned on _Raiton no Yoroi _and jumped onto the roof and sped out of the way. He needed to get to an open area; this place was too small to go out in a big brawl against a man who had so many weapons at his disposal.

"We told you to wai-" The ninja was interrupted mid-sentence as Kouga used him as a platform to run after Naruto.

"You should not run Naruto-san, it will just make it harder for yourself," Kouga advise. Naruto muttered under his breath before punching a wall and creating a hole to go to the outside.

(**With Onoki)**

"What in blazes was that!" the Tsuchikage demanded as he felt the building shake a bit.

"Tsuchikage-sama!" a shinobi shouted as he entered the room. "There is a battle going on, between two unknown individuals. It started from our basement and has now reached the streets." Just as the ninja said that, Onoki heard screams coming from the outside. Looking out his window he saw a boy with blond hair dueling with a man with red hair.

"What are you doing just standing there? Go out there and stop them! Deploy more shinobi if needed!"

"Hai Tsuchikage-sama!"

(**Naruto)**

Naruto parried another attack from a katana only for the blade to disappear, and was replaced with a spear thrust towards his face. He dodged that and tried to slug Kouga across the face. The spirit made the spear disappear and caught Naruto's fist. Kouga then reeled back his own hand and punched Naruto. The attack managed to shake Naruto up a bit.

"_Raiton: Jibashi!" _Naruto shouted in retaliation. Electricity flowed from out of his palms and over the man's body. Kouga grunted before moving away a bit. Doing a quick scan of the area, Naruto made sure no one else was around before the fight would escalate even higher. Luckily, with all of the violence happening all the civilians had left already. The blond then ducked a pair of kunai and shortened the Quill Blade. He then hastily wrote few characters and narrowly dodged the blade of a scythe as it swung right next to him.

"You are very good at dodging, although that won't take you far," Kouga told him. The man's green eyes never seemed to leave Naruto, as if he were watching to prepare for the next movement from the boy.

"I know that," Naruto replied. "I just don't know how to fight you yet." Naruto then flicked the Quill Blade upward and a blackened arrow shot up. From the arrow, smoke was emitted covering the area in which Naruto stood in.

"Interesting, Naoto has taught you some of his skills." Suddenly chakra chains erupted from the ground and shot out of the smoke, which completely covered Kouga. "Oh? Did Eiji train you as well? Odd, I did not see his artifact on your body." Ten kunais then flew out of the smoke, all with explosive tags attached to the ends. They hit their target and a large explosion shook the streets. The smoke that was covering Naruto had then been sealed away once again into the blade.

"Boy!" a voice shouted from around him. Naruto then looked up to see several ninjas surrounding him. "You are under arrest. You are to come with us for questioning."

"Get away from here! This battle isn't over yet!" Naruto warned them.

"He is right you know," Kouga stated as the dust cleared from the explosion. There was not a scratch on him, but there were several tears on the duster. "Please stay out of our way, this is a…familial dispute."

"No both of you are under arrest. Drop the weapons!" Kouga sighed before a daggertail fell from his sleeve. Spinning his arm in a wide arc, several blades detached from the chain of blades and stabbed into several of the ninja there. Those who were hit, fell to the ground stiff, while those who were only grazed seemed to fall to their knees. Naruto rushed forward and it was only thanks to a combination of _Raiton no Yoroi _and _Harukaze Miyabi _that he was able to dodge all of them. The blond then threw some shuriken and clashed blades against Kouga as the spirit summoned a katana.

"You didn't kill them did you?" Naruto questioned.

"I did not. Those were only dipped in a paralysis solution courtesy of Naoto," Kouga responded. "They will be able to move after a few hours." That caused Naruto to frown but nevertheless he was happy that these people weren't killed. Naruto nodded before he let go of the blade with one hand and reared it back. A blue orb of chakra appeared in it and Naruto shouted his jutsu.

"_Rasengan!"_The move sent Kouga through a wall. The spirit then jumped out of the hole and brought down a sickle onto Naruto. When it connected all Kouga saw in return was a log in the place Naruto previously was. "_Ranton: Reizaa Saakusu!"_Several beams of lighting were blasted towards Kouga. The spirit tried to dodge them, but they seemed to turn and hit him at last second causing him to fall to the floor. Kouga then saw a flicker of movement to his left and saw Naruto finishing some hand seals. His left hand started to crackle with electricity as he slugged Kouga across the face. Before the spirit could react, Naruto's fist seemed to blur and the speed of the electrically charged punches went faster. It was as if there was no time in between when Naruto had to pull his arm back to punch and the one before it._"Ranton: Meteo Shawaa (Storm Release: Meteor Shower)!"_After the combination of attacks the Armed Fang was launched backwards causing him to skid along the ground. "Get up, I know that hasn't hurt you enough."

Kouga slowly stood up and was laughing. "That was rather interesting, but let us face it that still was not enough," Kouga told him. "I hope you are as agile as I think you are, for this is going to hurt if you are not." Kouga took off his duster and threw it into the air. The spirit then snapped his fingers. After that action Naruto's ears heard the faint noise of something being unsheathed. Looking at the article of clothing floating in the air, he saw tips of tens if not hundreds of blades coming out. "Fire."

Suddenly all the blades within the duster were shot out towards Naruto, who had to speed himself up to outrun the endless assault. As he ran away from the attacks, he looked back only for a second to notice one thing. After the blades hit the floor they disappeared in a puff of smoke, as if it were being sealed away._'So that's how he keeps it endless,' _Naruto thought to himself._'After an attack he reseals it somehow at a distance.'_

Suddenly the onslaught stopped, and Naruto turned around to see Kouga panting on the floor. "I take it your almost out of chakra? It must be taxing to keep sealing and unsealing all of those weapons one right after the other. Even if it was an insignificant amount used for sealing, doing that over and over again during that short time span must have been taxing."

"I forget that I am just a being of chakra now," Kouga stated. "I cannot use that move now." Kouga sighed before standing up.

"So does this mean you give up?"

"No. It means I have to use a different method of battling you now. I cannot keep unsealing and sealing my weapons, I would just exhaust myself. So I must now use a method I'd rather not use." Kouga started to bristle up and his breathing became labored. "I am sorry to show you this, but since it is part of my arsenal I will use it." Naruto knew that whatever was happening, Naruto shouldn't let the jutsu to occur. So Naruto used _Shunshin _to close the gap and went to stab Kouga in the chest to end the fight. As he stabbed though, Naruto saw his blade go through the person's body.

"What the?"

"My my, it seems that Kouga has decided to forgo using his swords," Naoto told him as he appeared next to Naruto.

"Wait where did he go? I didn't feel him move out of the area at all."

"Oh he's still in your bubble of air. You just can't feel him." When Naruto heard those words he felt confused until he remembered something. Turning to the side he saw that the white duster was on the ground and his eyes widened.

"Oh crap…" He felt a movement come from behind him, and it forced him to use _Kawarimi _to dodge the attack. Looking from the place where the stone slab he had switched himself, Naruto saw the slab cut into four pieces but no signs of Kouga. "You ditched the only real thing I can completely follow. Although I can hear you." The blond turned his head to the side and saw Kouga had changed. He didn't look the slightest bit human. Kouga seemed to have transformed into some bipedal wolf man with grey fur. His form was hulking and large. Claws were extended from each of his digits on both hands and feet that gleamed in the sunlight. "Just what are you?" Naruto asked, getting ready to attack if necessary.

"You can say I am the Doctor's first and only genetic experiment," Kouga growled out from his snout. "Let us see if you can beat me Naruto-san. In this form, I don't expend chakra at all so let us see you handle me." With speed he didn't have before, Kouga had closed the gap between the two of them and did a downward swipe with his left hand. Naruto dodged to the left and he saw the building behind him gain large cuts into its side. The blond then ducked under a kick, which also left large marks on the side of the building. Raising up the Quill Blade, Naruto made a quick slice at his opponent's torso, but was met with some resistance from the muscle there. He then felt the claw coming down towards him again, forcing him to speed out of the way.

(**Onoki)**

The Tsuchikage watched as the battle raged on between the boy and the wolf man in the streets. He wanted to interfere, but as he watched the fight Onoki noticed that all those that got nearby would end up unconscious without either of the two attacking them._'Someone else is there making sure we don't interfere,_' he thought to himself. He then looked at the ninjas behind him in his office, who were also watching the battle as well. "Do we have any information on the two battling down there?" he asked. "Although the blond looks rather familiar."

"From what your granddaughter in the clinic told us that the boy is Naruto Uzumaki if she heard right," a ninja told him.

"You mean the nuke-nin from Konoha is here?" Onoki asked. He watched as the blond wrote some seal in midair with the sword in his hand and shot explosive arrows at the wolf man. The mutated being just took it and kept charging the boy. "Interesting. Do we know who this other person is?"

"Kurotsuchi-sama heard the man introduce himself as Kouga Uzumaki."

"Do we know what village is he from."

"No sir." The ninja then looked a bit worried. "Tsuchikage-sama, I was meaning to ask but why are we not doing anything?

"Because someone else is out there making sure that no one goes to fight in their battle. Not only that, but I think that the two combatants would probably just hurt them to keep them out of harm's way." Another explosion was heard and the group turned to see Naruto being thrown out crater with blood dripping from his shirt. "Although this is a very interesting battle indeed."

(**Naruto)**

The blond tried to catch his breath as he stared into the crater made when Naruto missed a few explosive seal arrows, and got hurt when he underestimated the reach of Kouga's legs. The claws on his foot giving him several cuts across his chest. So here he was now, taking in breaths waiting for the next attack. He felt a change in the air and swiveled to the side while bringing his arm back. When Kouga landed in front of him, Naruto ducked under the swipe and threw his fist forward._"Fuuton: Burakku Sheru!"_Naruto's attack connected with the the wolf man's torso.

Kouga felt himself being lifted up into the air by the force of both the punch and the Fuuton chakra that went with it. To Kouga, it felt as if a boulder had hit his stomach. Naruto then continued with the next move in the forms. "_Suiton: Baamirion Uingu!_" Making a crescent in the ground with his foot, a geyser sprung up from beneath Kouga. This caused the wolf man to be ejected into the air soaking wet._"Raiton: Howaito Dansu!"_Naruto jumped up and followed him, doing a multitude of punches and kicks enhanced by electricity before slamming him down with an axe kick. When Kouga touched the floor Naruto was already in front of him with both palms in front of him._"Fuuton: Buruu Sutoomu!"_A stream of burst of chaotic air was expelled from his hands. The jutsu left large cuts on Kouga's animalistic body as he was shot down the street, as well as eviscerated the ground behind him.

"That was excellent," Kouga stated as he stood up. "Although, I would still be a live by a little bit." Naruto noticed the steam rising from the cuts that Kouga had and the fact that they were starting to get sealed up. "I am sorry but if you are out of energy right now, you may have lost this battle."

"Who said it was over?" Naruto smirked as he disappeared in a plume of smoke. Kouga's eyes widened as he kept healing and sniffed the air, finding two beings with the same smell as Naruto. Behind him, he heard the crackling of electricity. Turning around he saw a Naruto holding the Quill Blade in both hands. His left held the blade while his right held the handle. He then raised it up for an overhead slash, but what made Kouga widen his eyes was the white glow around the blade.

"You know those moves too." Kouga then sprinted forward. "You are more dangerous than I thought." As he got closer he heard a show from the side.

"_Koutei no Ryuu: Senten Tsuki (_Emperor's Style: Whirling Thrust)!" Several blades made out of wind stabbed several places on Kouga's body and nailed him to the ground. "_Koutei no Ryuu: Senten Kyaku (_Emperor's Style: Whirling Kick)!" Kouga had a second to look to the side to see a Naruto with his foot covered in spiraling Fuuton chakra slam into him. All the blades entered his body causing him pain. After standing up from the attack, Kouga saw that Naruto disappeared, leaving the other one behind, although this one seemed to have charged his attack more. Around Naruto the shape of a wolf howling appeared.

"_Koutei no Ryuu: Toboe Giri (_Emperor's Style: Howling Cut)!" Naruto brought down the Quill Blade as a burst of electricity and the booming of thunder followed it. When he hit Kouga, the wolf man fell to a knee as his ears were ringing due to the attack. Naruto then put away his sword and put his arm out as a white glow covered him and Kouga. "_Koutei no Ryuu: Toboe Kiru (_Emperor's Style: Howling Chop)!" Doing a chop across Kouga's chest, the white chakra covering Naruto and Kouga connected causing a burst of electricity. When the attack died down, Kouga was on the floor fatally injured seeing as there was a whole in his chest. Naruto was standing, panting hard.

"It's my win."

"It is not over just yet," Kouga told him. Kouga twitched his right arm and Naruto felt three blades stabbed him from the back. Looking down he saw a three blades sticking out from his gut. The blond then looked behind him to see the handle as well as the duster glowing a little bit. "Survive this attack, and you have my acknowledgment." Slowly Kouga disappeared as Naruto fell to the floor in pain. He started to black out as he was starting to lose blood, but he felt the blades disappear.

"Crap…" Naruto stated. "Crap…I can't die yet." The blond started to hear footsteps get closer, before he closed his eye.

* * *

><p>Sorry for the shorter chapter and the late update. Stuff has been occurring in my family. One grandpa had to go to the hospital and is in a coma, another had died recently, and now we are planning a weeding. So yeah, a lot of things have been taking up my time. I'll try to get back on my weekly updates again. So leave a review.<p> 


	21. Escape

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**AN: **So here is a new chapter, after about two months. Sorry it took a while. Shit has been going down all around me and I'm finally over all the stuff. I also found a class that I can ignore and type in. So enjoy. Oh and thanks again to **Naginator** for being my beta.

* * *

><p>Blue eyes snapped open and immediately Naruto regretted it. It was bright out and his body was in pain. He looked down to see himself and saw bandages that were partially bloody covering his torso. The blond took in his surroundings and found himself in what seemed to be a prison cell. None of his belonging was on him. "Ugh...what happened?" he said aloud.<p>

"You're in a prison cell in Iwa," Naoto's voice drifted into his ear. Looking to the left, he saw the Mad Doctor sitting there inspecting his nails.

"How long was I out?" he groaned he looked at the ceiling.

"About two days. I have to say, you have rather remarkable healing. Not as good as the Senju clan's or those of Jinchuuriki but better than what I expected. I thought you'd still be unconscious for at least a week." Naoto smiled and shook his head. "Although, I'm glad you survived. IT would have been terrible if you died. Think of all the bad things that would have happened if you didn't?" Suddenly a small burst of chakra occurred right next to Naoto and Kouga appeared. The Armed Fang appeared and bowed to Naruto.

"Uh…"

"I am sorry for trying to kill you Naruto-sama," Kouga apologized in an oddly polite voice. "Please punish me as you see fit."

"Um...it's okay. It was a test after all," Naruto replied.

"No I think I should be punished. I may have killed you and ruined your chance to save your family." When Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, Kouga cleared his throat. "Naoto-san has explained your situation to me. Since you have bested me in battle, I will lend you my aid. But I still deserved to be punished." The blond turned towards Naoto.

"Is he always like this?"

"He…uh…was always behind on the times. He also doesn't have a sense of humor. So please be patient with him," Naoto replied. "He's really a nice person once you get to know him. Also be a bit more forceful so he can understand that it is an order from a superior." Naruto sighed and shook his head. He then turned towards Kouga and cleared his throat.

"Raise your head Kouga, you do not need to apologize. You were testing me and you had it in your right to come close to killing me."

"But-" Kouga tried to speak as his head shot up. He closed his mouth when he saw Naruto glare.

"I said it was fine. I accept your apology but you don't need to apologize to me."

"As you wish Naruto-sama." Kouga bowed his head once more and crossed his arms. "What is it we are going to do about our current situation Naruto-sama?"

"Current situation?"

"We're stuck in a jail cell," Naoto replied. "We may be spirits but we are bound to you for now. Your equipment was taken from you, and now we're stuck. What do you intend to do Naruto?"

"Escape of course," the blond responded immediately.

"As a doctor, I say you are in no condition to be doing anything like that for the next few days," Naoto told him.

"But I need to keep moving. Need to get to Uzu and gather those I swore to protect." Naoto turned towards Kouga.

"What do you think?"

"Naruto-sama is in no shape to travel, hence he should stay in bed and rest," the man replied.

"Even if it is in prison?" Naruto asked.

"Even if it is prison Naruto-sama," Kouga answered.

"But-"

"Relax kid," Naoto smiled. "We said you do too much work. We never said anything about us helping you break out."

"Wha-?"

"Kouga and I will spring you from the prison, and all you'll have to do is get a summon to carry you while we battle our way out of the center of Iwagakure towards the city walks. After that, we run for your life. Oh and we also have to get our artifacts back."

"That sounds rather dangerous Mad Doctor," Kouga stated.

"Don't worry about it Kouga. We're going to battle. Just like old times."

"Although Eiji is not with us."

"He will be one day, but for now we have to make do with what we have." Naoto then turned to Naruto. "Naruto do you think you can summon a mount sized summon? Probably one that will make sure you will not fall off its back while we run?"

"I'll try," Naruto responded. Naruto put his hands into the ram seal and started to old chakra. Slowly it began to build up.

"I am surprised they did not put a chakra blocking seal on him," Kouga commented. "It is rather inefficient of them to do so."

"Oh, they did put a seal on him. I just ripped it off when I arrived," Naoto answered. "This will take a while, probably three minutes at the least."

"I see. What are we going to do until then?"

"Stir up some trouble. I'll do the same. Hopefully, Onoki has the right idea and stay away for a bit and stay away from this cell." The two older Uzumaki men nodded and disappeared from the cell in bursts of chakra, returning to their vessels. This left Naruto to concentrate on gathering chakra on his own.

* * *

><p>"So what will we be doing with the Konoha traitor?" an old man demanded the Tsuchikage. "We can use him as bargaining chip with Konoha. We may be able to pull something from them in that way."<p>

"I agree," another council member stated, this time an old woman. "We may be able to gain an advantage over Konoha this way."

"I see what you are implying," Onoki told them. "That may be true, but we should wait until he is awake to do anything. Are we all in agreement for that?" He saw all the members nodding. "Good. Now you are dismissed." All the council members nodded and left the Tsuchikage alone. "I wonder what's happening out in research. They took the two artifacts from the boy. Maybe they can figure out what is happening."

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><p>In the Research and Development wing of the Intelligence Building, two separate rooms were holding both the Quill Blade and the Kouga's Battle Duster. The scientists who were looking at the Battle Duster were studying the several small seals on the inside of the article of clothing. "I don't get it. All I see are storage seals. There is nothing so special about this thing," a scientist stated.<p>

"That odd person fighting the intruder was wearing this thing. Then after the fight, he all but disappears," another one explained. "Tsuchikage-sama wants to know what he did."

"This is going to take a while though. I don't even know what half of these seals are. These are just plain ancient. I mean there are one character seals for entire arrays here," another scientist whined. "I don't think that's possible outside of the simplest of explosive tags." Suddenly the duster started to glow. "Um...is this supposed to be happening?"

"What did you do!?"

"I didn't do anything!" The glow died down, but a burst of chakra filled the room. The men and women in the room had to cover their eyes and move away from the article of clothing. When the light died down they saw a red haired man standing on the table.

Kouga had reappeared in his duster and looked around. "I am sorry for the intrusion but I will be taking what is mine," he told them. "I do hope that you do not feel threatened by my actions." Two tomahawks appeared in hand. "If shall excuse me, I need to be on my way." Electricity then covered the blades, and before the scientists could react, Kouga hurled the weapons at the wall. Not only did they destroy it, but also it created a large sound alerting the people around them. Kouga then jumped after his weapons.

When he was finally gone, the scientists were able to react. "Notify the Tsuchikage! There is a mad man on the loose!" one of them shouted.

* * *

><p>Off in another part of the building Naoto appeared as well. He had taken out the researchers by hitting them with poison laced needles. Since he knew Naruto didn't want many casualties, he just hit them all with sleep coated ones. The medic-nin sighed and looked around. "Time to find where Naruto's stuff is being held," he muttered to himself. He left the room and looked around. Closing his eyes he focused on Naruto's chakra signature. There was one far away, probably the real Naruto, and a few pieces just a few doors down. "I hope they didn't destroy anything he owns. He'd be mad if he finds out that his little paper was destroyed."<p>

* * *

><p>Kurotsuchi slowly made her way down towards the jail cells in the Tsuchikage Tower. She really had no reason to be there. She came here to visit the boy in the cells, she thought to herself. To be honest she really didn't like him. She really didn't, but she felt like she owed him something.<em>'Probably because he took an attack for you,<em>' a little voice in the back of her head stated. So that why she was down here, carrying a bowl of ramen, just in case he was awake. Sure he was an enemy, but he helped her out. Leaving him some food was the least she could do.

When she finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and towards his cell, she felt something. She wasn't a sensor type that's for sure, but she felt someone kneading chakra until it stopped suddenly. That made the little girl frown. Someone in the cells didn't have a chakra seal on them? "Humph, it must be a civilian trying to be a ninja," she said to herself. When she got to the cell, she saw Naruto sitting up on the bed with his head against the wall with sheen of sweat on his face. "Are you okay?" was the first thing she asked as she got there.

"Huh?" Naruto opened his eyes and saw Kurotsuchi there. "Oh don't worry about me. I'm just a bit tired." He closed his eyes again and leaned against the wall.

"The doctors said that you shouldn't be up for a week."

"Yeah, my obaa-chan says the same thing after every hard mission when I come home extremely hurt." The blond let out a small laugh. He then opened his eyes and looked at her again, staring into her pink eyes. "What are you doing here Kuro-chan? Don't you know it's dangerous to be around me? I am a criminal after all."

"I just came to bring you food that's all. I mean you did help me out a while back." Naruto seemed to squint his eyes before nodding his head.

"Oh yeah, I moved you out of the way of Kouga's attack. So you are okay?"

"I'm fine. Thank you." Naruto closed his eyes again sand started breathing heavily.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kurotsuchi asked nervously. It wouldn't do her any good if one of the more famous prisoners of Iwa died on her account.

"I said I was fine." Naruto gave a weak chuckle. "It's just that I have such a cute warden who is worried about me." Kurotsuchi seemed to blush at that.

"B-Baka! Don't tease the person who brought you food!" she shouted. Naruto laughed again and opened his eyes and saw her hold a cup of instant ramen.

"Thanks for bringing that but…"

"But what?"

"I think I'll eat some the next time you see me. Right now I have to be somewhere else."

"Wha-?" She watched as Naruto, as hurt as he was, rush through four hand seals.

"KUCHIYOSE NO JUTSU!" Naruto shouted before touching his hand to the wall. Kurotsuchi opened her mouth to say something but the smoke and the following roar scared her. She looked inside the cell and saw a large black lion with a golden mane. It was roughly as tall as Naruto, but a bit bigger. On the ankle of its front paws were three interlocked bracelets on each. The lion stared at Kurotsuchi and growled. It scared her a bit.

**"Are you the insolent whelp the summoned me?"**he growled. Kurotsuchi gulped and shook her head fervently.**"Then who was it?"**

"It was me," Naruto wheezed from behind the lion. The large black beast turned around and looked at Naruto with frown.

**"You are my new summoner? A weak piece of trash such as you."**The lion looked glared.**"I don't know what Kinshi sees in you. He always saw people with potential, what is so special about you?"**

"Being an ANBU captain at age thirteen should be good enough for you?"

**"Rank and status means nothing to me whelp. Why are you special?"**Naruto glared at the lion and the lion glared back. The lion's glare was condescending and prideful; Naruto's was defiant and calm.

"I'm special because I have something worth living for."

"**Worth living for? Don't you mean worth dying for?"**Kurotsuchi even seemed interested, even with being scared. She knew she should tell her grandfather, but she was scared of the lion. Even with the bars in between them, she suspected that he could cut through them easily.

"If I die, how can I know they are safe? I'm willing to give my all to ensure those I care for are alive and well. I'm willing to give my all to ensure I live long enough to see them happy years later. I'm not willing to die for the people I love; I'm willing to live for them." Naruto glared again. "That is why I need your help. I have a lot of things to do."

**"And if I don't?"**

"I'll kick your ass, even in my state," Naruto retorted with a glare. The lion glared back and gave a small growl before making a small purring noise.

**"Do not make me regret this boy. My name is Kuroshi,"**Kuroshi warned him.**"I'll put you on my back. I do not usually do this, Shiroshi usually helps transporting people. Find a way to keep you holding on to me."**

"Can you mold chakra?"

"**Yes, but not as good as toads do."**

"Can you support a jutsu I do?"The lion nodded. "Okay let's go." Kuroshi grabbed Naruto by his shirt using his jaw and threw him onto his back. Naruto focused a bit more chakra and sent chakra chains all around Kuroshi's body. Naruto then turned towards Kurotsuchi and smiled at her again. "Thanks for bringing me food. I won't blame you if you report me to the Tsuchikage. You are a loyal ninja after all." He then turned back to the lion. "Hit it."

"**Yami Tsume (Dark Claw)!"**Kuroshi shouted as he clashed through the bars and jumped over Kurotsuchi and bounded up the stairs. Kurotsuchi listened for a moment and when she heard women screams and manly shouts, she then got up to inform her grandfather of an escaped criminal. The girl wanted to give him a head start after all.

* * *

><p>The Mad Doctor knocked on the door to of the Tsuchikage's secretary. He could hear alarms ringing throughout the village but paid it no mind. He was here to get Naruto's other stuff and be on his way. Slowly the door opened and an old woman poked her head out. "Hello there," Naoto greeted cordially. "I hope you don't mind but I am here to take something that belongs to my friend." The woman gave a shout and tried to close the door. Naoto didn't want that happening so he slammed his fist on the door.<p>

"I don't think so," he chided softly. He pushed it open and chopped the woman on the neck. Naoto then closed his eyes and gathered some chakra to find Naruto's things. He found it surprisingly easy. It was just a behind a closet door. As he approached, Naoto felt himself smirk. "This is too easy," he muttered to himself. Resizing the Quill Blade into a smaller form, he started writing a seal in the air with his chakra and wrote the word "Cancel" in the air. Touching it with the tip of the weapon, Naoto pushed the seal onto the door. There was a large burst of chakra and then nothing. Naoto then walked forward and opened the door and nothing happened. Taking a look to the side he smirked.

"Well, it seems like they were prepared for us not to get his stuff," the doctor said aloud. His eye scanned the room and was met with several explosive tags. "Sadly they didn't expect an Uzumaki to handle this." Naoto grabbed Naruto's pack and examined it. He found everything where it should be. "Time to find Kouga and Naruto. We'll have to get out of here."

* * *

><p>The red haired ninja smiled as he moved through several ninja and smashed the handle of his katana into the stomach of yet another Iwa ninja. He then spun on his right foot and slammed the dull side of the blade into the woman's neck. She fell to the floor hacking and coughing. "I apologize," Kouga stated. "That was not meant to be painful, but I am trying not to kill you. Ergo I caused you more pain." The ninja then jumped up onto a building before sealing away his katana. He then unsealed a brown staff that had a curved blade at the edge, a naginata. The Armed Fanged then turned towards the Tsuchikage tower where he heard several screams coming from. "It seems like Naruto-sama has managed to escape as well."<p>

Kouga then twisted to the left and dodged large boulder going near him. He then did an upward cut with his naginata and managed to blow away some of the ninja coming towards him. "This was easier than I expected. After about a century, most of these ninjas are rather weak." Kouga sighed. Kouga then ducked another attack and slashed behind him. He heard a man scream. Turning around he saw a young child, no older than Naruto, now missing a leg and was bleeding profusely. "I apologize." Kouga did a few hand seals and cauterized the wound. "It will be more painful, but ask your healers to fix your leg. If they can do it in less than twelve hours you may be able to get it back."

"It's less than six hours you dolt," Naoto stated as he landed next to Kouga. The doctor then threw a few senbon into the child's neck causing him to go unconscious. He then drew the Quill Blade and made an explosive seal. It transformed into several arrows of chakra that flew into several different directions. Several sides of buildings exploded, but they did not fall. It caused what Naoto wanted, more chaos. The doctor then turned towards Kouga. "How many did you take out?"

"More than enough," Kouga replied. "Although it is like they are lambs to the slaughter. They keep coming even though I beat them down, they just keep coming." Naoto gave a laugh.

"That makes things a bit interesting though." The two spirits heard a loud roar and followed by several scrams. Looking towards the source they saw a large black lion land right in front of them, carrying a very green Naruto.

"I feel sick," Naruto uttered as he looked at the two. "Ugh…Kuroshi, I'm injured and you were too bumpy during that ride." The blond boy held his mouth and was about to hurl but stopped when he heard a growl.

**"If you so much put a piece of bile on me I'll drop you on your ass and skin you alive,"**Kuroshi threatened.

"Um…Naruto who is this?" Naoto asked, although there was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Guys this is Kuroshi," Naruto patted the lion on the side. "Kuroshi, the two spirits willing to kick my ass to train it." Naruto then looked blearily towards his two companions. "So what is the escape plan?"

"We're going to just plow right through Iwa, all the way up to the gate," Naoto replied with a smile.

"That sounds like a terrible idea," Naruto groaned.

"It is the current and best plan we have Naruto-sama," Kouga told him.

"Fine let's do this." Naruto patted the lion he was lying on again. "Kuroshi you know what to do and I apologize if I do manage to barf on you."

**"Shut it whelp,"**Kuroshi retorted.

"Okay let's move out…" Naoto stated but stopped when he saw several people surrounding them. "Or not."

"Stand down and give us back the prisoner!" an Iwa ninja ordered them.

"And if we do not?" Kouga asked as he put away his naginata. A daggertail appeared in its place. Kouga snapped it causing the weapon to leave a trail of destruction on the roof they were all standing on. Several ninja took a step back, although the jounins and ANBU didn't show their nervousness.

**"Do not worry human, I have this,"**Kuroshi told them. Ebony black chakra started to gather around the lion and the surroundings were affected. Several stones started to float and heavy winds started to whirl around them. "**Kuro Gao (Black Roar)!"**There was a loud roar coming from the lion. A pulse of black energy was shot around all of them. All the ninjas around them were sent flying in several directions and from the looks of things the building was being destroyed.

"Off the building now!" Naoto shouted. Kouga, Naoto and Kuroshi landed on the ground and started to run for the gate. Naruto groaned as they landed, for it was a bit of a rocky landing.

"Please stop doing that, I may just hurl," Naruto complained. "Although you really got to teach me that move. Kinshi only showed me the basic version of that and left. I haven't even mastered it yet."

**"Not now whelp, we need to keep moving,"**Kuroshi told him as they were making their mad dash. When two ninjas appeared in front of the lion, black chakra covered his paws.**"Yami Tsume!"**Kuroshi slashed the two leaving a trail of three black marks on their bodies.

"They aren't dead are they?" Naoto asked.

**"No, although that ability highly impedes chakra generation and healing."**

"Nifty, any chance you can teach our ward that?" Naoto slammed a chakra scalpel on a person's leg and then stabbed another person with the Quill Blade.

"**Depends."**The lion swerved and kicked a ninja behind him.

"Depends on what?" Kouga asked. He threw up the ends of his duster and several kunais shot out. The Iwa ninja dodged them, but those that were hit were paralyzed. It was due to the fact that the kunai had some poison from Naoto on them.

"**Depends if Kinshi agrees to teach him our moves."**The lion reared his head back and caught a katana in between his teeth. Using great force, he snapped the piece of metal as if it were just a twig. The lion then opened its mighty jaws. "**Shishi Gao (Lion Roar)!"**Unlike the previous jutsu, this one just consisted of a loud roar that paralyzed all the people around them due to fear. The group that was trying to escape jumped over the now frightened opponents and nearly reached the gate. That was until a large gaping hole hit the area in front of them.

Kuroshi, Kouga and Naoto stared at the hole and then behind them. Flying high in the sky was none other than Onoki. "Well, things just got interesting," Naoto smirked.

"Hand over the boy or die," the Tsuchikage commanded. Kouga and Naoto stared at each other, while Kuroshi just growled.

"We'd rather die," all three of them stated.

"So be it then." Onoki started to gather chakra in his hands and the two ninja knew it was going to hurt if they didn't react.

"Chances of dodging?" Kouga asked.

"Slim to none," Naoto responded.

"Chances of survival?"

"Abysmal."

"Chances of blocking?"

"Zero."

"**You two got a plan for this one?"**Kuroshi asked.**"None of my own jutsus would be able to block this. My boss's would but none of mine."**

"Nope. Also I don't think we can out run this move either."

"So we're going to die?" Naruto asked.

"Well chances are he'll miss you on purpose," Naoto told them. Naruto frowned.

"That's comforting. Now why don't we start moving? Since it looks like he's not attacking just yet." The lion and two spirits looked up and saw that Naruto was right. Onoki was just floating there glaring at them. "I think he's waiting for us to move out of his village to shoot."

"Because a Kage won't destroy his own village," Naoto smirked. He then turned towards the lion carrying Naruto. "How fast can you go?"

**"What do you mean by that?"**Kuroshi asked.

"In ten seconds, how far can you go?" The lion look slightly beyond the gateway and saw a mountain range.

**"I can get to the halfway point to that mountain over there,"**Kuroshi informed them.

"Good enough. When I give you the signal, you run there got it? Kouga and I will disappear. No matter what just keep running."

**"Do not order me around human."**Even though the lion said that he got ready to leave the area. Kouga shared a look with Naoto and nodded. In a small burst of light he disappeared and Naruto was now wearing his duster. Naoto quickly scribbled down the characters for 'Smoke' and 'Flash' in the air before sending them up. Onoki had to cover his eyes for a moment and let go of the jutsu, when a bright flash followed by a plume of smoke covered his field of view.

"What are they doing?" Onoki asked. Just as he finished his sentence, he saw the lion bolt out of the gate and speeding away from Iwagkure. The other person was missing from sight. "Well, no matter if they are missing. I just have to stop that lion and we can get back our prisoner." Onoki shot off and followed Kuroshi and Naruto.

While Naruto was on the back of his summon, he noticed that Onoki was following him. "Um…guys, we're in trouble. Old man Tsuchikage is still chasing us," Naruto muttered looking rather green.

"We don't have anything to stop any of his_Jinton (_Dust Release) jutsus," Naoto told him from within the blade.

"He will just destroy my weapons Naruto-sama. I apologize for being useless," Kouga told them.

"So we're just going to get caught?" Naruto asked.

**"I just have to out run him,"**Kuroshi told him. Naruto looked back and saw a large square shaped attack coming towards them at high speeds.

"Guys, I think we may just be out of time." Naruto closed his eyes and waited for whatever pain was going to hit him, and he could feel Kuroshi reacting to it too.

_"KOUTEI NO RYUU: BAAMIRION UINGU!"_a voice called out from overhead. Naruto watched as a gigantic blood red colored tornado fell from the sky and blocked the attack. There was a large explosion and it gave Kuroshi enough time to move away. It stopped to look at the disturbance.

"What the-" Onoki grunted. Naruto had time to look up and see what blocked the attack for two reasons. One was he wanted to see who saved him. The second reason was because that move was one from his clan. The blond was able to tilt his head upward a bit and saw one of the least threatening men he had ever seen floating in the air with what looked like two red wings made out of chakra. He had on a ridiculous purple and red tie-dye shirt and khaki shorts. Around his neck was a red scarf. On his back was, just like Naoto and Kouga, a long white coat. He had a mess of red hair and kind grey eyes. "Who are you?"

The man paid Onoki no mind and turned towards Naruto. "Naoto, Kouga, you two had me so worried," the man sighed. His grey eyes seemed gentle and expressed his concern. It was then turned into irritation as he disappeared, only to reappear next to Naruto. He smacked the air around the blond. Suddenly both spirits were forced out of their items and were clutching their heads. The two had bumps comically growing out of their heads. "You guys had to do something stupid again didn't you guys!" Naruto could feel an incredible amount of killing intent from the man, and it would have been scary if the man didn't look like some comic relief as he shook both of the spirits.

"Sorry!" the duo replied. The man then threw then back into their items before turning to the lion.

"Kuroshi, get a move on," he ordered. The lion stiffened before bowing his head.

**"Hai!"**The lion then ran away as fast as he could.

"Boy, I'll be waiting for you at the place you intend to go to," the man stated.

"I won't let them escape!" Onoki shouted. The man then turned to him and sighed.

"I'm sorry but I won't let you do that." A large amount of chakra started to spill from the man and the place he was standing on was literally shaking as he glared at Onoki. "I need them to reach a certain place and you will not stop them."

* * *

><p>In those short few seconds that they had started to move Naruto was really confused. "What the hell is going on?" Naruto groaned from the back of Kuroshi. "Who was that man?" Suddenly there was an explosion and a tower of black colored chakra filled the sky. Even from where they were, Naruto could feel something pressing down on him. "What the heck?" There was then a ball of light that flew overhead toward the East.<p>

**"It seems like he put the Tsuchikage in his place,"**Kuroshi muttered.

"What?" The lion then gave a laugh.

**"What you need to understand, boy, is that your life was just saved by a man I respect. You were just saved by none other than Eiji Uzumaki, the Implacable Emperor."**

* * *

><p><strong>An:<strong> So yeah leave a review. I'll also explain my concept of the different colored chakra in the next chapter, as well as get Naruto back with the Uchihas and talk to the girls in his life. And if i'm feeling ambitious, I'll give a little background on our three spirits.


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